Against all Odds
by XxRoseyxX
Summary: Sophie Blake was taken in by John Winchester after her parents were killed. Growing up with Sam and Dean, she quickly learned to love the life, and the job. When John goes missing, Sophie and Dean bring Sam along to find him, even calling in Sophie's hunter friend, Camry Walker. Will they find John? Dean/OC, eventual Sam/OC
1. Woman in White Part 1

Okay, quick version of my life story. My parents were friends of John Winchester, (and ex-hunters, but not the point..) anyway, they died when I was 15. A car accident. I didn't have anyone else so John took me along with him and his sons Sam and Dean. Sam was 3 years younger than me, and Dean was a year older. It's been 11 years of moving around and living out of a duffel bag, and I kinda love it. I get to travel around the country and I don't have to pay taxes, so there's that. So Sam gets into Stanford, and there's this huge fight and John kicks him out. It's been 2 years since that fight, Dean and I are together and John's missing. Dean decides we should go pick up Sam.

SPOV

"Do we have to get Sam?" I ask Dean, turning down the radio. He glares at me.

"Babe, don't touch that. And yes, we do. Dad's missing and he should know." He says, turning it up.

"I'm just saying, he took the college route, Dean. He got out. Who are we to drag him back in?"

"We're his family, Soph. Family helps family." He said and stared at the road ahead.

We got to Stanford after midnight, which means that we have to go in the back door. We climb the stairs and find Sam's apartment, and I pick the lock on the door. Dean steps on a creaky floorboard as we walk in and I glare at him. Sam comes in and they wrestle around until I can't watch anymore. I step away from the door frame and shake my head.

"Okay, playtime's over." Sam looks up at me and grins. I smirk. Both boys stand up.

"Sophie! You look great." Sam says, walking over and pulling me in for a hug.

"You too, Sammy." I tell him, with a smile. He looked the same.

"Sam?" A voice calls out, and the light turns on to reveal a leggy blonde standing by the stairs.

"Jess, this is Dean, and Sophie. Dean, Sophie, this is my girlfriend Jessica." Sam introduces us, and I wave at her. She waves back shyly. She was wearing white shorts and a smurfs crop top.

"Dean, what are you guys doing here?" Sam asks, standing next to Jess. Oh boy..

"Dad hasn't been home in a few days." Dean says simply.

"So? He'll come around in a few days." Sam says curtly.

"Let me try again. Dad's on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a few days." Sam's eyes widen.

"Jess, I'll be right back." He tells her as he walks out the door with us and towards the stairs.

"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the devil's gates in Clifton? He was missing both those times too. He's always missing and he always shows up." Sam says heading down the stairs behind Dean, and I'm already hurrying down the stairs in the lead.

"Never for this long, Sammy. You coming." Dean asks him, not looking back, as he walks down the stairs.

"No." Sam says, and Dean turns around. Couldn't we have at least made it to the car?

"No?" Dean asks him.

"I swore I was done hunting. For good." Sam tells him, crossing his arms."

"It wasn't easy but it can't have been that bad." Dean says turning around and walking down the rest of the stairs. I practically ran after that, and made my way to the Impala and leaned against it. I figured they needed to talk.

"The weapon training and the melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors." I heard Sam say as they walked towards the car.

"So what are you gonna do? Live some normal, apple pie life? That it?" Dean asked him.

"Not normal. Safe." Sam tells him.

"And that's why you ran away?" Dean asked him, and I roll my eyes.

"Hey, it was just college, Dean. Dad's the one who said if I was going to stay gone. That's what I'm doing." Sam replies.

"Dad's in serious trouble here, if he's not already dead, I can feel it." Dean tells him. Sam doesn't say anything so Dean looks at me. Then back to Sam.

"We can't do this alone." He tells Sam, and Sam scoffs.

"Yes you can. You have Sophie." Sam says.

" We don't want to." Dean tells him and Sam looks at me and I nod slowly. Sam sighs.

"So what was he hunting?' He asks and Dean walks to the trunk and props it open with a shotgun. He rifles around looking for something.

"Where did I put that?" He mumbles digging around in the arsenal in the trunk.

"So why weren't you guys with him?" Sam asks as Dean continues his search for the folder.

"We were working our own gig, a voodoo thing in New Orleans." I tell him, since Dean was distracted.

"Dad let you do a job alone?" Sam asked surprised, and Dean looks up and smirks at him.

"I'm 26, and she's 25." He tells him, and I finally relent and reach in and grab the folder.

"Thanks, Soph." He kisses my forehead and pulls out the articles, not noticing Sam's shock and then his huge grin. I just shrug and stand next to Dean.

"Dad was investigating this two-lane blacktop in Jericho, a month ago this guy disappears, and they find his car but not him." Dean hands him an article. I look over the other pages.

"Along with 10 other guys over the last 20 years. Same road, same deal, cars but no guys. It got more frequent so John went to check it out." I told him, showing him the other articles.

"That was three weeks ago." Dean says reaching into a bag and pulling out a recorder.

"Then yesterday, I get this voicemail, '_Dean, something big happening.. I need to figure out what's going on.. Be careful, and take care of Sophie_.'" Sam looks up.

"There's EVP on that." Sam announces.

"Just like riding a bike, huh Sammy?" Dean says smirking and I roll my eyes, smiling a bit.

"Ignore him. So I ran it through a gold wave and got this. '_I can never go home_.' Creepy right?"

"I left you alone, never asked you for anything for 2 years." Dean says closing the trunk.

"Fine. But I have to be back by Monday." Sam tells him.

"Why?" Dean cocks his head to the side. God, I love when he does that..

"I have an interview." Sam says.

"A job interview? Skip it." Dean says casually. I nudge him with my elbow.

"Law school." Sam says after a minute.

"Sam! That's amazing. Good for you." I tell him, grinning. He smiles and heads back inside.

"Law school?" Dean asks, turning to stand in front of me. I smirk.

"It's a great opportunity for him. Leave it alone, Dean." I tell him and lean up to kiss him.


	2. Woman in White Part 2

Sam came back a few minutes later with a bag packed, and he groaned.

"Seriously? Is this how it's going to be around you guys?" Sam whines, and Dean rolls his eyes.

"Come on, Sammy. We aren't that bad." I say, crossing my arms. Dean shakes his head.

"Well, are we going or not?" Sam asks. Dean smirks.

"Let's hit the road, then." He says climbing into the drivers side. Sam goes for the passenger seat and I groan. I used to get stuck in the backseat growing up, and when it was just John, Dean and me.

"Sorry, Soph." Sam says, grinning as I get into the back. I stretch out and put my legs up.

I prop myself up against the window and close my eyes to try and get some sleep. Next thing I know I'm being woken up and we're at a gas station. Dean is at the open door by my feet.

"Want anything?" He asks and I smile.

"A cherry coke and some junk food. Oh and sunflower seeds." I tell him, and he nods, shuts the door and walks to the station. Sam turns around and looks at me. I frown.

"What?" I ask him, as I move to sit cross-legged. He just shakes his head.

"You know what. You and Dean? Last time I saw you guys, you couldn't stand each other. Now? You guys are... _dating_?" I cringe at the last word. We were together, but we didn't label it. No need to.

"One, don't use that word. Two, it just kinda happened.. I don't really know. We were working on a case and we kind of realized things had changed, and we were drunk and the next morning we talked and decided to try it out. It's been like 2 months. So far so good.." I tell him picking at my black nail polish.

"2 _months_?!" Sam asks incredulously. I nod slowly.

"That's like the longest relationship Dean's ever been in, Sophie." Sam says seriously and I smile.

"I'm really happy for you guys." Sam says after a minute. I grin and Dean comes back and hands me my bag, kissing my cheek. Sam raises his eyebrows at me and I shoot him a look, and throw an energy bar at him.

"Breakfast, Sammy?" I ask, as I take a sip of my soda. Sam's looking through the cassette tape box.

"I swear man, you gotta update your cassette tape collection." I hear Sam tell Dean.

"Why?" Dean asks and I smile a bit, at his confused tone.

"For one, they're cassette tapes. Two, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica?" Sam says. Dean grabs the box and hands it to me.

"It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Sam says, and I sit up.

"Don't hate on Metallica, Sammy." I tell him, feigning offense. 

"That's my girl." Dean says, nodding proudly. I lean over kiss his cheek, and he puts in the AC/DC tape.

"House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." Dean says, and I stifle a laugh.

"Sammy's a chubby twelve year old. It's Sam." He tells us, defensively. I smirk at him.

"I can't hear you. Musics too loud." Dean says turning up the volume. Back in Black starts blaring. I start laughing and Sam groans and mumbles something I couldn't hear, as we pull onto the road.

We drive for a few hours and pass a sign that reads: Jericho 7. Sam hangs up the phone and looks at Dean.

"Alright. No one matching dad's description at the hospital or morgue." He tells us.

"That's something right?" I try, noticing the tension in the car. We pull up to the bridge and see several police cars parked. Dean pulls over and reaches into the glove box and grabs a small box. He opens it to reveal all our fake ID's. He grabs his and hands me mine, which I pocket. Sam just stares. I smirk.

We get out of the car and walk up to the car. Two deputies were talking.

"So this kid, Troy, was dating your daughter?" He asks the deputy who was in the car.

"Yeah." He says nodding.

"How's Amy doing?" He asks.

"Putting up fliers downtown." He replies.

"You guys had another one like this last month?" Dean asks, and they look up at us.

"Who are you?" He asks us. Dean and I pull out our badges.

"Federal Marshalls." Dean tells him. The deputy frowns.'

"You three look a little young to be marshalls." Dean laughs, and I smile.

"Thanks, that's kind of you to say." Dean says and I flash him a look.

After Dean makes a rude remark to the cops, we decide to head downtown to find 'Amy'. Dean and Sam talk to her while I wait in the car. My head started to hurt on the way over, but I wasn't going to admit it. After their talk, we headed to the library. Sam and Dean leaned over the computer and I was drawing on my chucks with a sharpie. I heard a smack and then wheels rolling and then Dean was next to me.

"What are you doing over here?" He asks, taking the sharpie and writes his name.

"Guys!" Sam calls out, and we roll over to the computer and look at the article.

"It wasn't murder, it was suicide." He tells us and I nudge him and he throws a smile at me. 

"Constance Welch, 24, leapt off of Sylvania bridge. Why?" I asked and Sam

"'Our babies were gone and Constance just couldn't bear it' said husband Joseph Welch." Sam read.

"It says an hour before she jumped, her two young kids drowned in the bathtub." I told them.

We head over to Sylvania bridge and walk onto the bridge, and I look down at the water.

"So this is where Constance took a swan dive?" Dean asks. I roll my eyes.

The boys soon start arguing and Sam says something about Mary, and Dean has him up against the pillar in a flash. He releases Sam and walks over to me. I gasp and they turn to see Constance walk off the railing. We run over to the railing and look down.

"Where'd she go?" I ask them, and they shrug.

"I don't know." Sam says. The Impala's engine turns on and the headlights shine right in our faces.

"Dean, who's driving your car?" Sam asks, worriedly staring at the car. Dean pulls out his keys.

The engine revs and the car speeds towards us, so we run to the edge and jump over. Sam and I cling onto the support beams under the bridge. We pull ourselves up and look for Dean. I get scared.

"Dean!" I call out, staring at the water below, until I see something move in the mud.

"What?" He calls out, irritated, and I have to stifle a laugh. Sam chuckles, relieved.

"You smell like a toilet." I let out a laugh at Sam's comment and Dean looks down.

Once we find the local motel we try to check in, but the motel owner tells us that Burt Aframian bought out a room for the month, after looking me over a few times. We head to that room and check it out.

Articles taped all over the walls, one caught my eye. It was Constance with a post it above it that said 'Woman in White'.

"John figured it out." I said and the boys looked over. I pointed to the post it.

"Constance is a woman in white." I tell them and Dean chuckles.

"You sly dogs." I smirk.

"Babe, you should go shower." I tell him and he nods.

"Yeah. Wanna join me?" He asks, waggling his eyebrows.

"Normally, I would but, this time is an exception. I'll make it up to you later though." I say with a wink.

Dean goes into the bathroom and I hear the water turn on. Sam looks over and grins.

"I still can't believe you two finally got together." I frown.

"Finally?" He shakes his head.

"You guys have been into each other since you met. It was obvious, and I was 12." Sam says, smirking.

"Whatever you say, brainiac." I say and he blushes at the old nickname.

Dean comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later. I walk over and give him a kiss. He grins.

"I'm hungry." I tell him and he laughs.

"Alright. There's a diner down the street." He tells me and I kiss him again.

"I knew there was I reason I liked you." I tell him, grabbing my jacket off the chair.

"Sammy, you want anything?" Dean asks and Sam shakes his head.

"Okay, we'll be back." Dean says walking to the door.

"Why don't you call and check in with Jessica. I know I'd want Dean to call me." I tell him.

We head outside and Dean stops when we see the hotel manager talking to the cops. He takes out his phone and calls Sam.

"Dude, five-oh, take off." Dean tells him and Sam says something on the other end of the phone.

"They spotted us. Find dad." He says and hangs up. The deputies walk over to us.

"Problem officers?" Dean asks.

"Where's your other partner?" The first one asks.

"What other partner?" Dean counters.

"Fake U.S Marshalls, fake credit cards. Got anything that's real?" The deputy asks.

"My boobs." I tell him with a smirk. Dean stifles a laugh. Next thing we know we're slammed over the hood of the cop car in handcuffs, being read our rights. I hope Sam can find John by himself.

They separated us once we got to the station so I didn't know what was going on with Dean. The sheriff came in with a box of stuff and sat on the table. He threw a worn old journal on the table in front of me. I knew it was John's immediately. He asked me questions and I gave sarcastic answers until he sighed.

"Look, I think you're a smart girl. That boyfriend of yours is in big trouble. If you help me, maybe they'll be lenient on you." Wow, trying to get me to flip on Dean? Not gonna happen, buddy.

"I guess I'm not as smart as you think I am." I tell him. He frowns.

"Your boyfriend says he doesn't know what this is. I think he does, and I'm betting you do too."

He opens the journal to a page with numbers that have been circled. _Coordinates!_

"Never seen them." I say, nonchalantly. A call on his radio interrupts us and he leaves. A few minutes later I picked the handcuffs with a paperclip from John's journal. I take the journal, pocketing it and look for Dean. I find him 2 doors down. I open the door and pick his handcuffs and we go out a window. Dean calls Sam, but the call cuts out and Dean is worried, so we head to the old Welch house.

Sam was in the car and Constance was on top of him with her hand digging in his chest. Dean jumps out of the car we 'borrowed' and shoots her, or at her. Sam sits up and drives the Impala into the front of the house. Dean and I ran through the car sized hole in the house.

"Sam!" Dean yelled and Sam groaned. He got out of the car and walked toward Dean.

"I'm okay." He said, and we sighed. That's when I saw Constance reappear. I tried to warn them but she threw me across the room, and I smacked me head on something and my vision swam.

"Sophie!" I heard Dean yell and heard him groan. I looked up and saw them pinned against the wall.

Then Constance's kids came down the stairs and they all melted into the floor. I think I passed out.

"Babe? Soph, you okay?" Dean asked me, worriedly. I opened my eyes, to see him next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told him, nodding, and then wincing at that. He sighs.

"Let's get you cleaned up." He says, and I notice the blood. It's on my hands, and my shirt.

"Is she okay?" Sam asks from his spot by the Impala. Dean nods.

"Yeah. I'll tell you another thing, if you screwed up my car? I'll kill you." Dean tells him. I laugh, and then groan. They both look at me worriedly. I stand up and almost fall over. Sam catches me.

"That's the one thing he loves more than anything, and you drive it through a house?" I ask Sam.

"Aw, babe. I love you more than her. Don't worry." Dean tells me with a smile. I freeze and then grin.

"You have the best timing to drop the L-word, Winchester. I have a head injury, am bleeding and probably going to pass out. But I love you too." Sam coughs, and Dean grins, and I get in the car.

We get back to Stanford pretty late. I'm in the car and Dean and Sam are talking. I close my eyes, and when I wake up, Dean and Sam are at the truck and Sam looks heartbroken and pissed off at the same time. I get out and see Dean's face, and then Sam looks at me and then Dean.

"We got work to do." Sam says and slams the trunk.


	3. Wendigo

We hung around Stanford for a week looking for any sign of the thing that killed Jess. We came up with nothing and finally convinced Sam to check out the coordinates. We've been driving for a few hours now, and Sam is asleep in the passenger seat. Dean is listening to his music and I'm in the back, playing with my black nail polish. Suddenly Sam jerks awake and it startles me into sitting forward.

"You okay?" Dean asks him and Sam looks over at him and then back at me before staring out the window.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Sam says and I sigh. Dean just nods, looking back at the road.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asks and Sam clears his throat.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asks, causing me to scoff, and Sam to laugh.

"Dean, your whole life, you never once asked me that." Sam says. I nod, kinda pissed.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind.." Dean says and I get it, he's worried about Sam.

"Look, man, you're worried about me, both of you are. I get it, and I'm perfectly okay." Sam tells both of us, and I shrug.

"Mm-hm." I mutter. Sam gives me a look that says 'I'll tell you later' and I shut up.

Sam grabs the map. "Alright, where are we?" He asks us after looking over the map.

"Just outside of Grand Junction." I tell him, leaning over to point on the map. Sam folds the map.

"Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." Sam says after a minute.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-" Dean started to say.

"We gotta find dad first." Sam finished. I put my hand on his shoulder and he smiled at me.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up after twenty years, it's no coincidence." Dean says.

"John will have answers, Sam. He'll know what to do." I said squeezing his shoulder with a small smile.

"It's weird, man. These coordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge." Sam says.

"What about it?" Dean asks, glancing at him.

"There's nothing there, just woods." He says putting the map down. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" He asks as we past a sign that says, 'Welcome to Lost Creek Colorado National Forest'.

We find the Ranger Station and park, as Sam starts to tell us about Blackwater Ridge. We all got out of the Impala and walked over to the Ranger Station, heading inside. Sam walked over to a 3D map of the of the national forest, specifically Blackwater Ridge. Dean is looking at all the decorations, and I walk over to the map, and Sam heads over to Dean. A ranger appears and they both turn around, startled.

"You boys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by chance?" He asks, looking between them.

"Oh, no sir. We're environmental study majors from UC boulder, just working on a paper." Sam lies.

"Recycle, man." Dead says, raising a fist. I smile and roll my eyes.

"Bull." The ranger states, and I clear my throat. He turns around, and looks me up and down, which grosses me out. He's like old enough to be my father. Once his eyes return to my face, he sighs.

"You're all friends with that Haley girl, right?" He asks, and we all nod.

"Yes, yes, Ranger Wilkinson." Dean says, and the ranger looks at us, lingering on me for the longest minute of my life.

"Well, I will tell you what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater unitl the 24th. He isn't exactly a missing person, is he? You tell that girl to stop worrying. Her brother's fine." He asks smugly.

"We will. That Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?" Dean asks, smirking.

"That's putting it mildly." The ranger said. I step forward and put my hand on my hip, and smile.

"It would help if I could show her a copy of the permit, with her brother's return date. They're like my family, you know?" I say, and the ranger looks me over before going to get a copy of the permit. When he leaves I shiver and groan. Sam chuckles and Dean looks annoyed. I sigh.

"Babe, I got the permit, alright? No harm done." I told him, shrugging. He shakes his head.

"Not to you." Sam smothers a laugh.

"You're jealous!" Sam whisper yells. I smirk.

"Doesn't feel so hot, huh Winchester? Remember that the next time you see a cute girl." I ask kissing him quickly, and he frowns. The ranger comes back and hands me the permit, giving me a quick once over. We head over the Impala and drive to Haley's house. We knock on the door, and a girl, Haley opens the door.

"You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean and this is Sam and Sophie. We're, uh, rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us. We have some questions about your brother.

"Let me see some ID." She says and we show her our fake ID's. She opens the door."Come on in."

"Thanks." I say, walking in. She catches a glimpse of the Impala.

"That yours?" She asks Dean. He nods.

"Nice car." She says as Sam and Dean walk in. I shoot him a look, reminding him about flirting.

After talking with Haley, we're sitting in a bar, with Sam on his laptop looking at the videos that Haley sent him.

"Hey, check this out." He says playing the video.

"Do it again." Dean says, and Sam plays it again.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move." Sam says

Dean hits Sam, and he looks up. "Told you something was going on."

"Yeah." Sam says, closing his laptop. "I got one more thing." Sam hands me a newspaper article.

"In fifty-one one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive." Sam said.

"Is there a name?" Dean asks and I nod.

After talking to the survivor, Mr. Shaw, and seeing the three scars on his shoulder, we're walking to our motel room and Sam and Dean are throwing out possibilities. Once in the room, I'm asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

In the morning, we're loading a duffel bag with guns. I sigh.

"We can't let this Haley girl go out there." I tell them, and Dead scoffs.

"Oh yeah? What are we supposed to tell her, she can't go out there because if the big bad monster?"

"Yeah." Sam says. Deans just looks at him.

"Her brother's missing, Sam. She not gonna sit this out. Now we go with her, protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Dean says, picking up the duffel bag.

"Finding dad's not enough? We gotta babysit too?" Sam asks, causing Dean and me, to stare at him.

"What?" He asks looking at us.

"Nothing." Dean and I say. Dean throws the duffel at Sam and walks off.

After we meet up with Haley and her younger brother Ben, and their sleazy guide, Roy, we all head into the forest. Dean and Roy are tossing comments at one another and I walk next to Dean, with my bag of peanut m&amp;ms I made him buy me. I just eat my m&amp;ms, not interfering. Haley walks up to us and stares at us. She looks between us a minute before sighing.

"You didn't pack provisions, you're carrying a duffel bag. You aren't rangers. So who the hell are you?" She asks, grabbing Dean's arm, which causes me to glare at her, until she drops her hand.

"Sam and I are brothers. We're looking for my dad. He might be out here. This is my girlfriend, Sophie." Dean says and I smile a little at the word 'girlfriend'. We didn't label us and he's never said it.

"Why didn't you tell me that from the start?" She asks confused. I just eat another couple m&amp;ms.

"I'm telling you now. Besides this is probably the most honest I've been with a woman other than Sophie. So we okay?" He asks, and Haley looks at us and nods.

"Yeah, okay." She says.

"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" He asks, pointing at my bag of m&amp;ms. I glare at him, pulling the bag out of his reach.

"Nuh-uh. These are mine, Dean." I say, teasingly sticking my tongue out, and walking ahead. Dean and Haley follow behind me.

We find Tommy's camp, and everyone puts their bags down, and we all run into the forest when we hear a scream. When we get back to camp, our stuff's gone. Sam calls us over and pulls out the journal.

"Oh, come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or in northern Michigan. I've never heard of one this far west." He says disbelievingly, but I think about it for a minute.

"Think about it, babe. The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." I tell him.

"Great. Then this is useless." Dean says pulling out his pistol.

Later on, after we explained what exactly we were looking for, I was drawing Anasazi symbols in the dirt.

"One more time." She says looking at me.

"These are Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross them." I say and Roy snorts.

"Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean says from the edge of the campsite with Sam.

Suddenly, someone screams for help, and we all jump up.

"He's trying to draw us out. Stay cool, stay put." Dean says, grabbing his pistol.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asks sarcastically, and I glare at him, shutting him up. He points his gun at the sound and shoots. Then runs into the woods after it. I chase after him, followed by Dean.

"Sophie! What the hell are you doing?" He asks spinning me around, glaring. I shake him off.

"We can't leave him out here!" I argue. He shakes his head.

"He's gone. We'll have a better chance in the day." He says, leading me back to camp.

We told them everything we knew about wendigos. After that, we headed into the forest to look for Roy. I'm standing by a tree, with Haley sitting by it, while Sam and Dean are talking by a tree with a claw mark. Suddenly Haley stands up and rushes away, just before Roy's body drops to where she was sitting. Dean walks over and examines Roy's body, and looks at me.

"His neck's broke." He says and Haley looks at me.

Then we heard loud growling getting closer. Sam hurries over.

"Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go,go!" Dean yells and we all split up. I was with Haley and Dean and Sam were with Ben. I turn around and see the boys. Ben falls and Sam and Dean help him up. I turn back and see the wendigo. Haley screams and I look up before everything goes black.

DPOV

Ben fell, so we turned back and helped him up. Just then, we hear a scream.

"Haley!" Ben yells, and runs ahead. Sam and I aren't fare behind. We stop to see Ben standing next to a broken molotov cocktail.

"Sophie!" Dean yells, looking around wildly. Ben looks at Sam, probably because he seemed calmer.

"If it keeps it's victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" He asked, and Sam sighed.

"Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam said, watching Ben bend down and pick something up. It was one of Sophie's peanut m&amp;ms. I laugh, and he hands it to me.

"Better than bread crumbs." I say and we begin to follow the trail. We come to an old mine entrance with a sign that said 'Warning! Danger! Do not enter extremely toxic material' Sam and I shrug and go inside, and Ben follows us. Inside the mine, we hear growling and Sam shuts off the flashlight and I cover Ben's mouth so he can't scream as the wendigo walks past us. Then we fall through the floorboards, falling on a pile of bones, and Ben jumps back. We look up and I see a mess of jet black hair and my black and white checkered shirt.

"Sophie!" I call out, running towards her. She's chained to the ceiling, and she's bloody. I help her down and hold her in my lap. Haley's chained next to where Soph was. She's awake, but looking at me sadly. I look back at Sophie, shaking her.

"Soph, come on, babe. Wake up. Show me those blue eyes. Please." I said, lifting her head. Her face was covered in scratches, and she had a small gash on her forehead.

"Dean? She okay?" Sam asks as he help Haley down. I shake my head.

"It went to her first. It- I looked away but I could hear her screaming." Haley said, voice shaking.

Sam walks over to Sophie and slaps her on the cheek, hard. She jerks and groans.

"Sammy, you ass. That fucking _hurt_!" She yells and looks back at me, and I sigh in relief. She smirks.

"Had ya'll worried huh? I'm fine, boys." She said, her southern accent sneaking in. It was adorable.

SOPHIE POV

Dean continued to look at me, concern etched on his face, as I stood up, and clutched me side.

"What's wrong?" He asked coming to stand beside me. I laugh and groan immediately after.

"My side hurts a bit. That thing knocked me in the ribs and took a piece outta my shoulder. Plus my ankle's a bit tender." I said, pulling Dean's flannel shirt down to reveal my shoulder, and an open wound. I need stitches. Damn.

We split up and Dean heads off to distract the wendigo so we can get out. I'm slowing Sam down, and he knows it. We hear the wendigo growl, and I get dizzy and trip, causing Sam to come pick me up.

"You have to get them out of here, Sammy. I'm slowing you down." I tell him and he shakes his head.

"I'm not leaving you here, Sophie. Come on." He says, and I shrug his arms off.

"You can hardly walk, Sophie. You need help." Sam says, and Haley nods. I frown. We hear growling getting closer, and we're backed into a corner when we hear Dean yell and then shot it with the flare gun. It turns to ash and I stumble into Dean, and he kisses the top of my head.

Later I'm leaning against the Impala, trying to keep from toppling over, while Dean is talking to Haley.

"Excuse me, my friend over there with the black hair, she was with me and my brothers. She should get looked at because the bear went after her too." Haley told the paramedic who came over with a bag and stretcher.

"Really, I don't need it. I'm fine." I said, through gritted teeth, wincing with every breath I took.

The paramedic insisted and helped me on the stretcher. She helped me take off my flannel, so I was in my tank and jeans, and was examining me when Dean came over and stood next to me.

"How is she?" He asked the paramedic. She wrapped my ribs, which were only bruised, and stitched up my shoulder. She looked up at him, and smiled.

"She'll be fine. Just make sure she takes it easy for a few days." She said, helping me down. I smile.

"Thanks." She nods and walks to the front of the ambulance. We head over to the Impala, which Sam is leaning against.

"You good, Atlanta?" Sam asked me, grinning. I sighed and then winced, grabbing my ribs.

"Fine. Few days and I'll be good as new." I said, and Sam laughed.

"Good. I'm driving." Sam said and Dean tossed the keys and got in the passenger seat. I hobbled over to the back seat and Sam started the car and we were off to find John, and hopefully, some answers.


	4. Dead in the water

Sam and I are packing up the Impala while Dean was in the diner getting some food. We head over to the diner to see a waitress in obscenely short shorts flirting with Dean, who had been circling something in the paper, and looked up at her, grinning around the pen in his mouth. I go back to the motel room to grab the last of my stuff and to check out. Sam heads over towards Dean and I hear a bit of the conversation. Dean stares at Sam and drops his head.

"You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." Dean says watching the waitress walk into the kitchen, staring at her ass. "That was fun." He says, and I clear my throat. He drops the pen.

"Fun, huh?" I ask, crossing my arms. Sam stifles a laugh, and Dean's eyes are wide.

"Uh, babe.." He starts but I stop him by grabbing the paper from the counter, and 'accidentally' flaunt certain parts of my body I know Dean likes. He swallows and I smirk at him. Sam laughs. I wink.

"Do anything other than flirt with the slutty waitress, like find a case?" I ask him, playing with the hole in my jeans, which completely exposes my knee. Dean nods, watching me. I snap my fingers at him.

"Anything for you two?" Slutty waitress asks us, and I shake m head.

"Just the check, thanks." I tell her and she walks away. Sam starts laughing.

"Oh, man. You're good." He tells me, and Dean clears his throat. I look at him.

"So what did you find?" I ask taking a the pen out of his hand and biting hit. His eyes darken.

"Uh, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water: nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had the funeral two days ago."

"A funeral?" Sam asks confused.

"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." Dean says shrugging.

"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear. Other people just stop looking for them."

"Something you want to say to me?" Dean asks defensively. I sigh.

"Come on guys. Let's not do this now." I said trying to break it up.

"The trail for dad. It's getting colder everyday." Sam says, ignoring me.

"Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?" Dean asks.

"I don't know. Something. Anything." Sam tells him.

"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find dad as much as you do? Or Sophie?"

"Yeah, I know you do, it's just-" Sam starts but Dean interrupts.

"We're the ones that've been with him every single day the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find dad, but until then, we're going to kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" Dean says, as Wendy walks by shooting me a glare, I just wave at her and grab Dean's hand. He smirks at me and kisses my hand before nudging me out of the seat and we all head to the Impala.

We drive over a bridge and past a sign saying 'Welcome to Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin.' A few minutes later we're at the Carlton house. We get out and knock on the door, and a teenage boy answers the door.

"Will Carlton?" Dean asks.

"Yeah." Will responds.

"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and Agent Black. We're with the US wildlife service." Dean tells him, all of us holding up our ID's.

Will brings Sam and Dean out by the dock, where Bill Carlton was siting on a bench at the end.

"She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down." Will tells us, pointing.

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked him.

"She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub." He told us.

"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asked him.

"No, that's what I'm telling you." Will said.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" I asked him.

No, again she was really far out there." Will said.

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline." Dean asked him. 

"No, never. Why? What do you think's out there?" Will asked us.

"We'll let you know as soon as we do." Dean tells him turning towards the car, then back to Will.

"What about your father?" He asks.

"Can we talk to him?" Sam asks. Will turns to look at his father than back to us.

"Look, if you don't mind, I mean.. he didn't see anything and he's kinda been through a lot."

"We understand." I tell him, and we start walking towards the car.

We head to the police station, and start talking to Sheriff Devins.

"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" He asks us.

"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." I told him.

"Like what?" He asks us as we walk into his office and he offers us a seat.

"There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." He tells us as we sit down.

"There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the loch ness monster."

Dean laughs and Sam shoots him a look. Then the sheriff's daughter, Andrea, comes in with her son, Lucas. She walks us to the motel down the street. Once we get to the hotel, Sam starts researching on his laptop, and since I'm still mad about the 'fun' comment, he gets to do the laundry.

"So three drowning victims this year." Sam tells us and I nod, looking through earlier articles.

"Any before that?" Dean asks, as he folds the laundry.

"Yeah, six more spread over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up it's pace." I say and then look up to see Dean frowning.

"What?" I ask him, and he hold up my red lace nightie. My eyes widen and I reach my hand out.

"Give me that!" I tell him and he shakes his head.

"How come you don't wear this anymore?" He asks, with that sexy smirk on his face. I sigh.

"Well, we never have any time alone.." I glance at Sam. "And you keep flirting with slutty waitresses. And it's not like it ever stays on very long anyway." I say and then realize that I said that out loud.

Sam clears his throat and I grab the nightie and put it in my duffel bag. I look at Dean to see him grinning, and I blush. Sam grimaces and shakes his head. I clear my throat and look at Sam.

"Sorry, Sammy." I tell him, embarrassed. He just nods, not looking at me. Dean just laughs.

After that awkward conversation, we figure out that Christopher Barr was a drowning victim, and Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. We head to the park to see Andrea at the bench and Lucas drawing.

"Can we join you?" Sam asks her and Andrea looks up at us.

"I'm here with my son." She tells us. Dean looks at Lucas and back to Andrea.

"Oh. Mind if I say hi?" Dean asks as he walks over to Lucas."

"Tell your friend this whole 'Jerry Maguire' thing is not gonna work on me." Andrea tells us, looking at me when she says friend.

"It's not like that." I tell her, looking at Dean drawing with Lucas. He thinks he's bad with kids, but he's so good with them. I smile as I watch him playing with Lucas.

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident." Andrea says and Dean walks over.

"Yeah. We heard. Sorry." Dean told her giving her a sympathetic look.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asks.

"That it's some kind of post-traumatic stress." Andrea says sadly.

"That can't be easy. For either of you." I tell her.

"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just.. when I think about what Lucas went through."

"Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Dean tells her, looking at me.

"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-" Andrea says as Lucas walks up.

"Hey sweetie" She tells Lucas. Lucas hand Dean a picture.

"Thanks, Lucas." He tells him. Lucas walks back to the bench where he was drawing.

Back at the motel, Dean and I were laying on the bed, talking while Sam was out. Sam walks in and we sit up.

"I drove past the Carlton house. Will Carlton is dead." Sam tells us.

"He drowned?" Dean asks, and Sam nods.

"Yep. In the sink." Sam tells us.

"What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else." Dean says.

So after we figured out that the body count was going up because of the dam, we headed to talk to Bill Carlton, but he refused to talk to us, and I don't blame him. Dean figures out the picture Lucas drew was of the Carlton house, so we go to Andrea's and convince her to let Dean talk to Lucas.

DPOV

"Hey Lucas. Remember me?" I ask as I crouch next to him.

"You know, I, uh, wanted to thank you for the last drawing. But thing is, I need your help again."

"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was going to happen? Maybe you could just nod yes or no for me." I ask him, showing him the picture of the Carlton house.

"You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom- I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that everyday. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe your dad wants you to be brave too." I tell him and look over to see Sophie with tears in her eyes. I look at Lucas. He hands me a picture of a white church, a yellow house, and a boy with a blue baseball cap and a red bicycle. Then he hands me another picture with blue swirls and a figure in the middle with long hair spread out around it, and it looks like a girl in water. I thank him and we leave.

SOPHIE POV

We find out that a little boy, Peter Sweeney disappeared thirty-five years ago and it turns out that he knew Bill Carlton, and after we save Andrea, we learned that he knew Andrea's dad, Jake. Lucas walked to a patch of grass in the yard, and we started digging. We dug for a few minutes before Sam hit something.

"Peter's bike." I said.

"Who are you?" Jake said pointing his gun at us.

"Put the gun down, Jake." Sam tells him.

"How did you know that was there?" Jake asks us.

"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake, and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." Dean tells him.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Jake says.

"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago, that's what the hell I'm talking about."

Andrea runs up to us. "Dad!"

"And now you've got one seriously pissed-off spirit." Dean says.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And drag their bodies to god knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does." I tell him.

"And how do you know that?" He asks, pointing the gun at me, and I see Dean step forward but Sam moves in his way, blocking him.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." I say to him, gun still pointed at me.

"Listen to the three of you. You're insane." He tells us. Dean steps forward.

After Dean talked to Jake we learned that it was an accident and that they let Peter's body go in the lake. Then Lucas was playing near the lake and we ran over to see him pulled in, and Peter's head come to the surface. Dean and Sam jump in and I stay with Andrea on the dock. All I keep thinking is they have to save Lucas. I wish I could help, but I'm scared of water. I have been since the car went over the bridge the night my parents died. Then I see Dean and Sam keep coming up without Lucas, and Jake started to get in the water.

"Jake! Get out of the water, now!" I yell at him, and he starts talking to Peter. Jake gets pulled under and my instincts take over and I let go of Andrea and she falls to her knees on the dock. I stare at the water for a minute and take a deep breath and jump in. I see Jake and I pull at him and try to bring him up, but it's like he's tied to cement blocks. Then I hear Peter say _'come play with me..' _to my left and I look into a pale blue face, and I scream, unintentionally taking in a lungful of water, and then I see nothing as the darkness closes in.

DPOV

I found Lucas and brought him up and carried him to the dock, where Andrea's alone. Sophie.

"Where's Sophie?" I ask her and she looks at the lake, crying softly. Jake's jacket's by the grass.

I dive back down and only stop for air for what feels like forever, when I come up and spot a figure floating. It looks like the second picture Lucas gave me. Oh, god, no. Not Sophie. Please.

"Sam!" I yell, swimming over and grabbing her and dragging her to the dock. Sam takes her from me and puts her on the dock. I pull myself up and look at her. Her skin is pale and her lips are blue.

"Oh, god, Soph. Come on." I tell her, starting CPR. Sam sits next to me, worriedly staring at his best friend. Nothing happens, and Sam starts crying. He looks at me, and I keep doing CPR.

"Dean..." He tries to tell me, but I don't listen. "She's- she's gone, Dean." He says, shakily.

"No. No! You- You can't leave me, Soph. What am I gonna do without you?" I break down and let my tears fall as I pull her onto my lap and cradle her in my arms. I thought I felt her hand twitch, but chalked that up to grief. I hear gagging and look at Sophie. She coughs up water and her eyes open. I laugh, relieved and she looks at me confused. I smile at her and look at Sam, who's smiling too.

"I love you, Sophie." I tell her kissing her and she smiles at me and pulls my head down to kiss her.

SOPHIE POV 

Dean and I are standing next to the impala with his arms around my waist and Sam's packing up. Andrea and Lucas come over and bring us sandwiches for the ride. Andrea pulls me aside and thanks me for trying to save her father, and tells me that I should hang onto Dean, because he really loves me.

"Believe me, Andrea. I intend too." I tell her looking at Dean talking to Lucas and I smile.

"He was a wreck when he thought you were.. gone. They both were, but- Dean more so." She said.

"I really love him, you know? This life is dangerous. He doesn't want out. Or kids." I say sadly.

"I think that'll change when he realizes what I did yesterday. You're it for him. He'll come around."

That was the last thing she told me before we drove off to find a new case, and to look for John.


	5. Dean and Sophie Fluff

I woke up again in the middle of the night, and Dean stirs beside me and rubs my back. I kiss his forehead and stand up. Sam is up, watching an infomercial. I check the clock and see that its just after 3. He sees me and mutes the tv.

"What are you doing up?" He asks me and I shrug.

"Couldn't sleep, I guess. You know what? I'm gonna shower." I tell Sam and I shut the door. I hear Sam wake Dean up before I turn the water and get in the shower.

DPOV

Sam turns and looks at me. He raises an eyebrow.

"What was that about? I've never seen her like that? What's going on with her?" Sam asks me.

"A couple months ago, dad and Soph got into a fight and she left for a while. I think she went to stay with Bobby. That was before we got together. I think this has something to do with dad." I tell him.

"You do something?" Sam asked me confused.

"I have no idea what's wrong with her lately. Something's bugging her and she ain't talking about it. Ask her about it. She might tell you more than I could get out of her." I tell him before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

SOPHIE POV 

I get out of the shower and put my towel on. I wipe away the steam from the mirror and look at my reflection. My blue eyes, have bags under them and my long jet black hair wet and stringy. I sigh.

"Sophie?" I hear after I put on my bra and underwear. It's Dean. I unlock the door and pull him in,

"Babe, I love the way you think." He says smirking as he leans down and his mouth claims mine.

Kissing Dean is like, I can't even find the words to describe it. I moan into his mouth and he takes that as an invitation as his tongue slips into my mouth and massages mine. He backs me up until we hit the small counter and he picks me up and sets me on it, without breaking the kiss. I push him back.

"We were caught up with the case in Wisconsin, so I didn't get a chance to ask. What's wrong, Sophie? Something's bothering you lately." Dean asks me, his arms snaking around my waist.

"Dean, I'm fine." I tell him, kissing the corner of his mouth, which is frowning.

"The past couple weeks, you've been acting weird... Are you okay, babe?"

"Honestly, I'm fine. I know you're worried about me, and with Sam.. You don't need to worry about me." I tell him jumping down and pulling on my jeans, and Dean grabs my hand to keep me from leaving. He looks at me, his eyes concerned.

"I'm okay, Dean. Just had a rough couple weeks." I say and he frowns.

"I'm serious, Soph. You need to tell me what's going on with you. I'm worried. I can't help if I don't know what's wrong." He tells me seriously.

"I promise that I'll always let you know when something's wrong." I tell him as I put my t-shirt on. I kiss him quickly before sliding into my boots. When I look back up, Dean is gone, probably to pack up. I walk out into the room.

"Hey, so Dean said we're taking off?" I ask Sam as I walk over to my bag. He looks up and nods.

"Dean is packing up the car. Told me to keep an eye on you." Sam said as he raised an eyebrow.

"He's just being protective. You don't need to worry about me, Sam." I tell him and he scoffs.

"Not like I'd know what to worry about considering my best friend doesn't talk to me anymore." He says and I cringe, suddenly feeling really guilty. I take a deep breath and look at Sam.

"Your dad doesn't know about me and Dean." I blurt out and Sam looks confused.

"He told us when we were teenagers and again when you left that we couldn't be together, that it was stupid and reckless. That I was a dumb love struck girl and there was no place for that in our line of work." I told him as I remembered every fight I had with John about Dean and I saw Dean walk in.

"Your dad told me you sleeping with me would just be because I was there. I mean, why do you think I left 2 years ago after Sam went to Stanford? I knew that John would make a big deal about it. When we ran into each other, and we slept together, I thought you'd regret it. I knew you would hate lying to your dad and going behind his back, but I was selfish. I was happy, and I hadn't been happy like that with a guy in my entire life. I thought you'd feel guilty about it, hell I did! That's why I've been acting weird since we started looking for John. He'll find out about us and I'm scared." I tell him, tears pooling in my eyes. Dean clears his throat and takes a deep breath.

"Sophie?" Sam calls over and I look up to see them both staring at me

"It hurts. John doesn't know about us, Dean, and it hurts me. Fact is, he'd kill us if he did. He told me that all I'd accomplish was getting you killed. He won't approve of us, and I know that it kills you to be sneaking around. You do everything for John. To make him proud. You listen to him about everything, except sleeping with me." I tell them as sobs wrack my body. Dean pushed his way past Sam and grabs my face he kisses me softly. I walk away and run my hands through my hair.

"God, Sophie, why didn't you tell me it bothered you so much?" Dean says stepping forward. I step back a bit, and he looks hurt.

"How can I tell you that knowing that when we find John, you'll drop me first chance you get?" I ask him through my tears.

"Soph.. _I love you. _I've never said that to anyone other than family. You are the most stubborn, headstrong, brave, beautiful, compassionate, and impatient woman I have ever met and I am pathetically in love with you. I don't care that my dad will hate it! I love you, Sophie Rose Blake. So you're going to let me come over there and kiss you now. As soon as we find my dad, I'll tell him about us, but you have no reason to ever think I'll leave you." Dean tells me slowly walking forward and I'm crying again, but happy tears now. I laugh and run the rest of the distance and jump into his arms kissing him. Sam laughs and grabs our stuff, probably going to wait in the car, and shuts the door.

"I love you too, Dean. So much it scares me. I've never been good at any of this, but I love you." I tell him as we reach the bed. He kisses me again and I smile against his lips. I reach over and unbutton his plaid shirt as he lifts my ripped Metallica t-shirt over my head and throws it across the room. I take off his plaid shirt and grab the hem of his blue t-shirt and he helps me lift it over his head. I play with his hair as his mouth moves from my lips to my jawline and slowly making it's way to my neck. I moan and he smiles against my neck, sucking and nipping. His hands are making their way down to my bra and he skillfully unclasps it and its thrown somewhere in the room. He lays me down on the bed so I'm on my back and he's on top of me. His mouth travels from my neck to my breasts nipping, licking and sucking, as I run my hands across his back and let my nails leave a trail up his back, causing Dean to groan. I reach for his jeans and unzip them while he does the same with mine and we break apart to take them off, leaving me in my underwear and Dean in his boxers. I reach out and touch the anti-possession tattoo on his chest and lean up to kiss him again. He grabs my cheek and his other hand cups the back of my head, my hair in a messy bun. Soon, my underwear and his boxers are gone, and our bodies merge together and the only sounds are of our breathing and some sounds that are totally not PG-13. After, we're laying in the bed, my head on Dean's chest, and we're breathing heavily.

"Wow." is all I can manage to say. Dean chuckles and kisses my head.

"Yeah. Haven't done that since before we picked up Sammy. God, it's been too long." He says.

"Sam can sleep in the car for now on, I don't care. We can't wait that long ever again." I tell him, kissing his chest and he chuckles again.

"We'll get our own room, that way we won't have to kick Sammy out every time-" He starts to tell me but I pull myself up and straddle him. He looks surprised and his eyes darken.

"Do you want to waste our alone time talking or-" Was all I got to say before Dean flipped us over and we continued into round 3 before Sam was knocking on the door. Dean was in the shower, and I grabbed his flannel and quickly buttoned it up, and searched for my underwear. I opened the door and Sam was standing there, fist raised mid knock. I sigh and step outside, closing the door.

"What's up?" I ask him, trying to act casual. Sam looked down at his feet.

"Are you guys done? I got a room and I caught a few hours of sleep while you guys were... sorting out your issues." Sam says grimacing and I laugh, heading to the door.

"Not even close. Head back to your room Sammy and we'll see you in the morning." I tell him walking into the room and walking into the bathroom, slipping into the shower with Dean. We end up in the bed a while after that, too exhausted for anything except sleep.


	6. Phantom Traveler

Dean and I were sleeping on the motel bed, Dean on his stomach in a t-shirt and boxers and me on my side curled into him, in one of his shirts and my underwear. I hear the door creak open and nudge Dean who doesn't move. I sigh and grab for the knife we keep under the pillow, it's a quirk of Dean's that I've learned to accept. I grab the handle and turn to see Sam standing in the doorway with coffee and a bag.

"Mornin' sunshine." Sam says cheekily. I let go of the knife, leaving it under the pillow. I nudge Dean.

"What time is it?" I ask Sam, rubbing my eyes.

"Uh it's about 5:45." He says handing me a coffee. Black with three sugars, my favorite.

"In the morning?" Dean mumbles annoyed from the pillow.

"Yep." Sam tells him, smirking. I groan and take a big sip of my coffee.

"Where does the day go?" He asks sitting up and I hand him my coffee which he takes a sip of.

"Aw you guys are so cute." Sam says snickering. I throw my pillow at him.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Dean asks Sam.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours." He tells him walking over to his bed.

"Liar. 'Cause I was up at 3am and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial." I tell him.

"Hey what can I say, it's riveting TV. Oh and by the way, nice hickey, Sophie." Sam says smirking.

"What?!" I yelp and stumble over to the mirror in the bathroom. Yep, definitely a hickey.

"_Dean!_" I yell from the bathroom and walk out into the room, hands on my hips. He just grins.

"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asks him worriedly, taking in the bags under Sam's eyes.

"I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal." Sam says with a shrug.

"Yeah it is." Dean tells him.

"Look I appreciate your concern-" Sam starts

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep my ass, and more importantly Sophie's, alive. We need you sharp." Dean tells him not so subtly grabbing my ass, causing me to shoot out of bed and glare at him. He just looks at me, grinning.

"Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?" Dean asks him.

"Yeah but it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you."

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." Dean tells him. I scoff and he cocks his head at me.

"So what, this never keeps you up at night?" Sam asks Dean and me. Dean shakes his head.

"You're never afraid? Neither of you?" Sam asks and I shrug walking over and sitting on the bed.

"No, not really." Dean says. Sam grabs the hunting knife from under our pillow and holds it up.

"That's not fear. That's precaution." He says taking back the knife, looking at me for help. His phone rings and he answers.

"Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back, is it? What is it?" Dean asks and then looks at me and then Sam. He hangs up after that.

"We're heading to Kittanning, Pennsylvania." Dean says standing up. We make good time getting to Pennsylvania and we meet Jerry at the warehouse.

"Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean, your dad and Sophie really helped me out." Jerry says to us as he leads us to his office.

"Yeah, they told me. A poltergeist." Sam says a little too loud.

"Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie" Some worker says, thinking that's what we were talking about.

"Hey nobody's talking to you." Jerry tells him and then turns back to us."Keep walking. Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something if it wasn't for your dad, Dean and Sophie, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?" Jerry asked Sam. Sam nods.

"Yeah I was. I'm- taking some time off." Sam tells him. It's partially true anyway.

"Well he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time." Jerry told Sam.

"He did?" Sam asks him surprised.

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. Where is he, anyway?"

"He's- um- wrapped up in a job right now." I tell him

"Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam. Even trade, huh?" Jerry asks and Dean laughs.

"No, not by a long shot." Sam tells Jerry, and I turn and frown at him.

"I got something I want you guys to hear." Jerry tells us.

We get to Jerry's office and he tells us about a plane that crashed, which was piloted by his friend.

"I listened to this. And well, it sounded right up your alley." Jerry tells us sitting down, putting a CD into a drive.

"Normally, I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours." Jerry tells us as he plays the recording.

A man yelling mechanical failure and there's a whooshing sound at the end, but it sounds like EVP.

"Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh...well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault."

"You don't think it was?" Sam asks him.

"No, I don't." Jerry tells us.

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um a list of survivors." I tell him.

"Alright."

"And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean asks him.

"The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage...fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance." Jerry tells us apologetically. Dean frowns.

"No problem." Dean tells him. We leave the factory and Dean heads into a print shop while Sam and I hang outside by the impala. I'm sitting on the trunk while Sam is leaning against the door.

"So how exactly did you and Dean get together? You never told me." Sam asks, breaking the silence.

"Um, it was a case, in Memphis. A vengeful spirit. I got knocked down a flight of stairs. Busted a rib or two, and had a few cuts on my side from a broken stair." I tell him suddenly remembering that night.

"_Ouch! Damn it, Dean!" I curse as he pokes at my ribs. We're in the motel room, and John left, not wanting to spend another night here, but made us, seeing as how I was injured._

"_Quit whining. Your ribs are bruised, not broken. And I need to check your side, it's bleeding through your shirt." He tells me and I look down to see my white shirt peppered with blood. I sigh._

_I take off my shirt, leaving me in my navy blue bra, and Dean grabs the first aid kit. He grabs the whiskey from the table and hands it to me. I take more than a few large sips and then hand it to him._

"_Looks like some minor cuts, no stitches." He tells me and I try to smile, but it's probably a grimace._

"_Thank god, I don't think I could take another scar thanks to your shoddy sewing skills." I smirk._

_He pours the whiskey on my cuts and I inhale sharply, causing him to look up. We're inches apart. I've tried to keep a safe distance from Dean. I've had a crush on him for years, ever since I was 15. I take another couple swigs from the whiskey, between us, Dean and I finished half of it. We're both probably drunk by now. I wince when I drink too much and couch a few times. _

"_You alright, Soph?" He asks me worriedly, and I smile shyly at him. He raises an eyebrow._

"_What's up with you lately?" He asks me and I still. I stand up and walk towards my bag, but he grabs my hand and stops me, causing me to turn around. _

"_I just, can't keep pretending that things are normal between us." I tell him and he nods. _

"_I know, but with dad and everything, we never get a chance to talk. Something's different with us, like it's changed." He tells me taking another swig. I nod and drink from it before setting it on the table._

"_Would it be weird if I said that I have feelings for you? The non-platonic kind?" I ask him, feeling brave, most likely from the whiskey. He looks at me for a moment, before chuckling softly._

_Dean leans forward and crushes his lips to mine and I'm surprised for about 30 seconds before I kiss him back and he carries me to the bed, with my legs wrapped around him, never breaking the kiss._

"Thanks for stopping at that." Sam tells me thankfully and I laugh.

"Sammy, you're my best friend, but I'm already talking boys with you, but I'm not talking about my sex life. Especially since it's with your brother." I tell him and he cringes.

A few minutes later Dean walks out of the print shop, but not before checking out a good-looking woman passing by, causing me to clear my throat loudly and he smiles sheepishly.

"You've been in there forever, pretty boy." I tell him as he walks over to us and holds up three ID's.

"You can't rush perfection." He tells us and he kisses my forehead. He hands us our ID's.

"Homeland Security? That's pretty illegal, even for us." Sam says and I nod.

"Yeah, well, it's something new. You know? People haven't seen it a thousand times." Dean says as we all get in the car, Dean in the driver's seat, Sam in the passenger seat, and me stuck in the back, again.

"Alright, so what do ya got?" Dean asks us.

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder." Sam tells Dean.

"Yeah?" Dean asks curious.

"Listen." Sam says and nods at me to play the edited tape. _"No survivors.." _

"'No survivors?' What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors." Dean says confused.

"Got me." Sam says.

"What if there weren't supposed to be any survivors?" I ask them and they look at me. Dean grins and leans back and kisses me, no just a peck either. When he pulls back he's grinning.

"Sophie, you're a genius. We need to talk to the survivors." Dean tells Sam and starts up the impala.

We end up going to some psychiatric hospital to talk to a survivor who admitted himself after the plane crash. He said that some guy with black eyes opened the emergency exit door. We went to the guy's house and he was just a normal dentist. So now we're shopping for suits to pretend tp be Homeland Security to get in to see the wreckage. I picked out suits for the guys and I grabbed a white blouse, above the knee black pencil skirt, and a black blazer with black pumps. I changed and then pinned my hair back. Dean and Sam came out of the store after I paid for mine and went to the impala.

I whistle at Dean and he turns and checks me out. "Hey there handsome." I tell him, smirking.

Dean stares at me and I see his eyes darken and I bite my lip. Sam sighs.

"Seriously, you guys are the worst." I glare daggers at him and he shrinks back, and I grin.

"Let's go boys." I tell them, opening the door and getting in the passenger seat. We leave and head to the warehouse. The guards are easily fooled by the ID's and my flirting. We examine the wreckage and Dean has his EMF meter, which spikes on a door with a yellow powder on it. I put some in a bag. We get chased out of the warehouse when the real feds show up and head to Jerry's office. He tests the powder to reveal it's sulfur. We're sitting in the motel room, in full research mode on demons.

"So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." Sam says from his place at the table, reading from the laptop.

"Yeah but none of them describe anything like this." Dean tells him from his spot on the bed.

"Well, that's not exactly true. You see according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." Sam argues.

"And this one causes plane crashes?" Dean asks as he gets up.

"All right, so what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times andfound a way to rachet up the body count?" I ask from my place on the bed, looking up from my book.

"Yeah, you know. Who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Sam asks.

Dean snorts and turns away. I get up and walk over to him and grab his hand.

"What?" Sam asks him.

"I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad was here." He says and I kiss him chastely.

"Yeah, me too. We'll find John, okay?" I tell him and he nods.

Jerry calls Dean to tell him that his pilot friend died in a plane crash, and that's when we figured out the planes are crashing 40 minutes into the flight, which just so happens that the number 40 means death. We also figure out that the demon is trying to finish what it started by going after the survivors. We drive to the airport and try to call all the survivors on the way, but it seems the flight attendant is working tonight. We get to the airport and Dean calls her but she hangs up and gets on the plane.

"Alright, time for plan B. We're getting on that plane." Sam says and I nod.

"Whoa, whoa. Now just hold on a second." Dean tells us, wide-eyed. I frown at him.

"Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is going to crash." Sam tells him, seriously.

"I know." Dean responds.

"Okay. So we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You two get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes." I tell them and Dean looks at me, anxiously.

"You okay?" Sam asks him.

"No, not really." Dean tells him.

"What what's wrong?" Sam asks him, worriedly.

"Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh.." Dean starts to tell him.

"Flying?" Sam asks and I try, unsuccessfully, to stop the giggle that slips out. Dean glares at me.

"It's never really been an issue until now." Dean tells us, and I can't help but laugh, because the great Dean Winchester is terrified of planes.

"You're joking, right?" Sam asks, slightly amused.

"Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?" Dean whisper yells.

"Alright, Sophie and I will do this ourselves." He tells him.

"What are you, nuts? You said it yourselves, the planes gonna crash." He tells us.

"Dean, we can do it together, or Soph and I go, I'm not really seeing a third option here." Sam says.

"Come on! Really? Man.." Dean says and the boys got to the car while I get tickets. We get on the plane and I'm seated between Dean and Sam. Dean is freaking out and squeezing my hand. Dean starts humming my favorite Metallica song and I smile. Sam looks at me and then at Dean.

"You humming Metallica?" He asks him.

"Calms me down." Dean tells him and I giggle. Dean glares at me. I lean over and kiss him, not quickly. When I pull away he seems calm.

"There. Think about that instead. If you aren't calm, you're open to possession." I tell him.

The demon was in the copilot and we had Amanda help us lure him out of the cockpit so we could exorcise him. We finished the first part of the exorcism and started the second part when it went into the plane and tried to crash it but Sam finished the second part and sent it back to hell. We got off the plane at the airport where we left and Dean vowed never to get on a plane again, even after we joined the mile high club in the bathroom on the plane. We passed Amanda as we were walking out and she mouthed 'thank you' to us, and I smiled at her before we left the airport. Jerry was waiting outside for us.

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed." He says shaking our hands. "Your dad is going to be real proud of you. And I'm sure he's proud of you too, Sophie."

"We'll see you around, Jerry." Sam tells him as Dean starts to walk to the impala.

"You know, Jerry." Dean turns back and says.

"Yeah?"

"I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number? I've only had it for like 6 months."

"Your dad gave it to me." Jerry tells him and I perk up from my spot on the impala's trunk.

"What?" Sam asks him.

"When did you talk to him?" Dean asks him.

"I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys." He tells us and then leaves.

"This doesn't make any sense, man. I've called dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service."

Dean nods at me and I dial John and put it on speaker. _'This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean.__785-555-0179__. He can help.'_

Sam scoffs and hurriedly gets into the car, and Dean and I follow and we hit the road. We better find John soon, it's not fair of him to keep yanking them around like this. They need answers. I'm worried that Sam is going to continue to spiral down the same path of revenge that John took after Mary died.


	7. Bloody Mary

We've been driving for a few hours. I'm in the backseat picking at my black nail polish. Dean's driving, as always. Sam's asleep in the front seat, Dean and I decided to let him sleep until we got to where we were heading.

"Sam, wake up." Dean says loudly. Sam wakes up and looks around. We parked in town.

"I take it I was having a nightmare." Sam asks drowsily.

"Yeah, another one." I said sitting forward.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep." Sam says and I sigh.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." Dean tells him.

"Are we here?" Sam asks, changing the subject.

"Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." I tell him showing him the newspaper.

"So what do you think really happened to this guy?" Sam asks as he looks at the circled article about Steven Shoemaker.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Dean says to him.

"Let's go." I tell them, getting out of the car, followed by them, and we head into the building. We wait by the two desks and a tech comes in.

"Hey." He says to us.

"Hey." Dean replies.

"Can I help you?" He asks sounding a little irritated.

"Yeah. We're, uh.. the med students. Doctor Figlavitch didn't tell you? We talked to him on the phone. He, uh, we're from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper." Dean tells him.

"Well, I'm sorry, he's at lunch." The morgue tech informs us.

"Oh well he said, oh you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" He asks the tech.

"Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him if you want." The tech replies.

"An hour? We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then." Dean says looking at us.

"Yeah." Sam says while I simply nod my head.

"Uh, look, man, this paper's like half our grade, so if you don't mind helping us out-" Dean starts to say.

"Uh, look, man.. no." The tech says to him. Dean chuckles and turns around to us.

"I'm gonna hit him in his face, I swear." He mumbles to us. I roll my eyes and Sam hits Dean's arm, then steps in front of Dean, opening his wallet and putting like 5 twenties on the tech's desk.

"Follow me." The tech says, picking up the money. I look at Sam and smirk at him. The tech walks away and Dean stops Sam.

"Dude, I earned that money." Dean tells him.

"You won it in a poker game." Sam reminds him. I walk ahead of them, following the tech.

"Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." I say and the tech pulls back the sheet to reveal Shoemaker's face.

"More than that. They were practically liquefied." The tech tells us.

"Any sign of a struggle? Maybe someone did it to him?" Dean suggests.

"Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone." The tech argues.

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asks.

"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up there, that's for sure." The tech informs us.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, curious.

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen." The tech explains.

"But the eyes? What would cause something like that?" Sam asks him.

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims" The tech tells us.

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asks him.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor." The tech answers.

"Hey, think we could take a look at the police report? You know, for uh, our paper?" Dean asks him.

"I'm not really supposed to show you that." He tells us and Sam sighs, pulling out his wallet. We pay him and he shows us the file. We're walking down the stairs towards the entrance.

"Might be one of ours. Might just be some freak medical thing." Sam says to us.

"How many times in dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asks him.

"Uh, almost never." Sam replies.

"Exactly." Dean says.

"All right. Let's go talk to the daughter." I tell them. We head to the shoemaker house and accidentally walk into his funeral.

"Feel like we're under dressed." Dean says and we walk into the backyard. We ask some guy which one is his daughter and he points to a group of girls. We walk over to them and they look up.

"You must be Donna, right?" Dean asks the darker haired girl.

"Yeah." She says to us.

"Hi, uh, we're really sorry." I tell her.

"Thank you." Donna says.

"I'm Sam, this is Dean and Sophie. We worked with your dad." Sam tells her. She looks at the blonde girl on her right.

"You did?" Donna asks us.

"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke." Dean says.

"I don't really think she wants to talk about this right now." The blonde tells us.

"It's okay. I'm okay." Donna tells her.

"Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" I ask her.

"No." Donna says and the little girl turns around.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke." She says.

"Lily, don't say that." Donna tells her.

"What?" Sam asks.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset." Donna says to us.

"No, it happened because of me." Lily argues.

"Sweetie, it didn't." Donna tells her.

"Lily. Why would you say something like that?" I ask her, bending down to her eye level.

"Right before he died, I said it." She tells me.

"You said what?" I ask her.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes, that's what she does." Lily says.

"That's not why dad died. This isn't your fault." Donna reassures her.

"I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" Dean asks her.

"No, I don't think so." Lily tells him. We decide to check out the bathroom where he died so we go upstairs.

"The Bloody Mary legend.. Dad ever find any evidence it was a real thing?" Sam asks.

"Not that I know of." Dean says walking into the bathroom.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it." Sam tells us as he bends down and touches the dried blood on the floor.

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's a story, but here it's actually happening." Dean says opening the medicine cabinet.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B- the person who says you know what gets it. But here-" Sam starts to say, quickly closing the medicine cabinet after noticing the mirror.

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean finishes for him.

"Right." Sam agrees.

"Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out." I tell them.

"It's worth checking into." Sam says to us. We walk out of the bathroom and run into Donna's friend.

"What are you doing up here?" She asks us.

"We, uh, we had to go to the bathroom." Dean says and I roll my eyes.

"Who are you?" She asks us.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." Dean answers.

"He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself." The blonde tells us.

"No, I know. I meant-" Dean starts.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on or I start screaming." She tells us.

"Alright, alright. We think something happened to Donna's dad." I tell her.

"Yeah, a stroke." She retorts.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." I say to her.

"Like what?" She asks us.

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." Sam says to her.

"So, if you're gonna scream, go ahead." Dean tells her.

"Who are you, cops?" She asks us. Sam looks back at Dean.

"Something like that." Dean tells her.

"I'll tell you what." I tell her pulling a paper and pen out of my jacket pocket. I write down my cell number on it.

"If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary.. just give us a call." I tell her handing her the paper and then we walk downstairs and out to the car. We go to the library and walk inside which is kind of dark.

"Alright, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some sort of proof, like a local woman who died nasty." Dean tells us.

"Yeah, but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like 50 versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." Sam informs us as we walk through the library.

"Alright, so what are we supposed to be looking for?" I ask them.

"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers, public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary that fits the bill." Sam tells us, causing me to sigh dramatically.

"Well that sounds annoying." Dean announces.

"No, it won't be so bad, as long as we..." Sam looks towards the computers and we see 'Out of order' signs on them. He chuckles. " I take it back. This will be very annoying." He tells us. We go back to the motel after hours of research that came up empty. Sam heads to the bed and passes out within minutes. Dean sits at the table and I head to the shower. After I get out I brush my teeth and change into an AC/DC tank and shorts. I walk out and stand next to Dean. He looks up and grabs me and sets me on his lap. I lean down and kiss him but we're interrupted by Sam waking up from another nightmare.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam asks us.

"Cause I'm an awesome big brother. So what did you dream about?" Dean asks him, and I'm still sitting in his lap.

"Lollipops and candy canes." Sam says sarcastically.

"Yeah sure." I mutter, glancing at the laptop.

"Did you guys find anything?" He asks us, sitting up.

"Oh, besides a new level of frustration? No, I've looked at everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but no Mary." Dean tells us, and I put my head on his shoulder.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet." Sam says falling back onto the bed.

"I've also been searching strange deaths in the area, you know eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Dean says to us. My phone rings and I get up and walk over to the dresser and answer it.

"Hello?" I ask and hear a frantic Charlie and I immediately head to the bathroom and put my jeans, blue tank top, red flannel shirt and combat boots on and the boys are waiting for me by the door. We meet Charlie at a bench.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And, her, her eyes. They were gone." She says crying and I put on hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I tell her sincerely.

"And she said it. I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?" She asks us, looking up.

"No, you're not insane." Dean tells her.

"Oh, god, that makes me feel so much worse." Charlie says.

"Look, we think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." I tell her and we convince her to help sneak us into Jill's room. We climb in through the window and Dean tosses Sam the duffel and he starts going through it.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Dean asks Charlie.

"Just that I needed to be alone with Jill's pictures and things. I hate lying to her." She says to us sadly.

"Trust us, it's for the greater good. Hit the lights." Dean tells her. Charlie turns off the lights.

"What are you guys looking for?" She asks curiously.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." I tell her. Sam hands Dean the digital camera.

"Hey, night vision. Perfect." He says after turning it on. The camera is aimed at Dean.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean asks and I roll my eyes. Sam walks over to Jill's closet door and starts filming around the mirror.

"So, I don't get it. I mean, the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" Sam asks us. He hands me the camera and I walk into the bathroom.

"Beats me. I want to know why Jill said it in the first place." Dean says.

"It's just a joke." Charlie tells us.

"Yeah well somebody's going to say it again, it's just a matter of time." Dean tells us. I film around the mirror and see something trickling from behind the mirror.

"Hey, babe. There's a black light in the trunk, right?" I ask Dean and he climbs out the window and gets it from the impala. We put the mirror on the bed and open the back to see a name and a hand print written on the back of the mirror.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie says causing us to turn and look at her.

"You know who that is?" Sam asks her.

"No." She says. We go back outside to the bench, with Dean and I sitting with Charlie while Sam finds out who Gary Bryman is.

"So, Gary Bryman was an 8 year old boy. Two years ago, he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver." Sam fills us in.

"Oh my god." Charlie says.

"What?" I ask her.

"Jill drove that car." She tells us.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Dean says to her. We drive to Donna's and go to the bathroom mirror and find more writing and another hand print.

"Linda Shoemaker." Sam reads. We go downstairs to talk to Donna.

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna asks us.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important." Sam apologizes.

"Yeah. Linda's my mom, okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident, and that's it. I think you should leave." Donna tells us.

"Now Donna, just listen." Dean tries to tell her.

"Get out of my house!" She says and runs upstairs.

"Oh my god. Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom?" Charlie asks us.

"Maybe." Sam says to her.

"I think I should stick around." Charlie tells us.

"Alright. Whatever you do.." I say to her but she cuts me off.

"Believe me, I won't say it." She tells us and we leave, going back to the motel room to research more.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're doing a nationwide search?" Sam asks Dean as he's looking at our bulletin board.

"Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database, at this point any Mary that died in front of a mirror is good enough for me." Dean explains to him.

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." Sam argues.

"I'm telling you there's nothing local. Soph and I checked. So unless you've got a better idea.." Dean tells him.

"The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." I interject from my place next to Dean at the table.

"I know, I was thinking the same thing." Dean agrees.

"With Mister Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run." Sam says.

"Both had secrets where people died." I finish.

"Right, I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors, that they reveal all your lies, your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." Sam informs us.

"Right, right. So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it and punishes you for it." Dean suggests.

"Whether you're the one who summoned her or not." Sam adds.

"Take a look at this." Dean says to us, showing us a picture of a woman laying in a pool of blood in front of a mirror with a bloody hand print and the letters Tre written.

"Looks like the same hand print." I say.

"Her name was Mary Worthington, an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Dean tells us. We head to a detective agency in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the detective on Mary's case now works.

"I was on the job 35 years, detective for most of that. Now everyone packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington case still got to me." The detective tells us.

"What exactly happened?" Dean asks him.

"You three said you were reporters?" He asks us.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself. We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife." Sam tells him.

"That's right." The detective tells him.

"See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened." I tell him. He goes to a filing cabinet and opens a drawer, pulling some files out.

"Technically I'm not supposed to have a copy of this. Now see there?" He asks, pointing to the letters.

"Yeah." Dean says to him.

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." He tells us.

"You know who it was?" Sam asks him.

"Not for sure. But there was a local man, a surgeon, Trevor Sampson. And I think he cut her up good." He says showing us a picture of a man.

"Now why would he do something like that?" I ask him, confused.

"Her diary mentioned a man she was seeing. She called him by his initial 'T'. Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell 'T's wife about the affair." He informs us.

"Yeah but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" Dean asks the detective.

"It's hard to say, but the way her eyes were cut out, it was almost professional." The detective says.

"But you could never prove it?" Dean asks him.

"No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." The detective tells us.

"Is he still alive?" I ask him. He sits down and sighs.

"Nope. If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could." He tells us.

"Where's she buried?" Sam asks.

"She wasn't. She was cremated." The detective answers.

"What about the mirror? It's not in some evidence lockup is it?" Dean asks him.

"Ah, no. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago." He tells us.

"You have the names of her family by chance?" I ask him. We get in the impala and Sam calls Mary's brother about the mirror as Dean drives.

"Oh, really? That's too bad Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, maybe next time. All right, thanks." He says hanging up.

"So?" Dean asks him.

"So that was Mary's brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques. A store in Toledo." Sam informs us.

"So wherever the mirror goes, Mary goes?" Dean asks.

"Her spirits definitely tied up with it somehow." Sam agress.

"Isn't there an old superstition that says mirrors can capture spirits?" I ask from the backseat.

"Yeah there is. Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." Sam tells me.

"So Mary dies in front of a mirror and it draws in her spirit." Dean says.

"Yeah but how could she move through like a hundred mirrors?" I ask them.

"I don't know but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it." Dean says and I smirk.

"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe." Sam says as my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket.

"Hello? Charlie?" I ask, and make Dean drive to the school to pick Charlie up and we drive her back to the motel, careful not to let her look in the mirrors, and I send Dean and Sam in to cover up all the reflective surfaces while I sit with her. We walk in the room when it's safe and she goes straight to the bed and puts her face on her knees.

"Hey, hey it's okay. You can open your eyes now, Charlie." I tell her and she lifts her head.

"Now listen. You're gonna stay here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." Sam tells her.

"But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?" She asks us. I walk over and sit on the bed.

"No. Not anytime soon." I tell her. Dean sits on the bed next to me.

"Alright Charlie. We need to know what happened." Dean says to her.

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it." Charlie says.

"That's not what we're talking about. Something happened, didn't it? In your life.. a secret.. where someone go hurt. Can you tell us about it?" Dean asks her and she reaches out and grabs my hand.

"I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night at his house, we got into this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me and he said 'Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'll kill myself.' And you know what I said? I said 'Go ahead.' And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just.. I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." She says, putting her head back in her knees, crying. We leave her in the motel room and get in the impala.

"You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." Dean says from the driver's seat. I'm in the backseat picking at my nail polish, trying to figure out the best way to talk to Sam.

"You know as well as I do that spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean. Charlie had a secret, someone died, that's good enough for Mary." Sam tell him.

"I guess." Dean mutters.

"You know, I've been thinking, it might not be enough to smash the mirror." Sam tells us.

"Why, what do you mean?" I ask him, looking up from my nails.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Sam explains.

"Well how do you know that's going to work?" Dean asks him.

"I don't, not for sure." Sam admits.

"Well, who's gonna summon her?" Dean questions him, suspiciously.

"I will. She'll come after me." Sam tells us. Dean pulls the car over.

"You know what, that's it. This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." Dean rants at him and I sigh.

"I don't blame you." Sam tells him.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself because there's nothing you could have done." I say to him.

"I could've warned her." Sam replies.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides all of this isn't a secret, I mean Soph and I know all about it. It's not going to work with Mary anyway." Dean tells him.

"No you don't." Sam argues. I look at him.

"We don't what?" I ask him, concerned

"You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything." Sam admits.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asks, confused.

"Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" Sam says and I roll my eyes.

"I could do it." I say and Dean turns his head so fast I'm scared he'll get whiplash.

"Hell no." He says, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Wasn't asking permission, Winchester. I have a secret that I could use to summon Mary. It's better than Sammy offering himself up like a sacrificial lamb." I state and Sam looks to be considering it.

"What, so you doing it's alright then?" Dean asks, sounding irritated.

"Yes, it'll be easier for me to summon her, plus you and Sam as backup is much more solid than us. I'm doing this Dean. You know it's a good plan. We all know I'm the best one to do this." I retort and he sighs, running his hands down his face.

"Sophie, I _know _it's a solid plan. Fact is, I don't like the idea of my girlfriend summoning an evil spirit that likes to melt people's eyeballs. You're one of the best hunters I know." He tells me and I cross my arms.

"Then why don't you think I can handle it?" I challenge and he groans.

"_I_ can't! I can't lose you too, Soph. This is dangerous as hell and I'm not okay with you doing this." He says.

"Dean, that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. Babe, you've got to let me do this." I tell him and he sighs. We drive to the shop, Sam picks the lock and we walk inside to find the entire shop full of mirrors.

"Well...that's just great. Alright let's start looking." He says, pulling out the picture of Mary's body next to the mirror. We split up and look around the store for the mirror.

"Maybe they've already sold it." Dean suggests.

"I don't think so." Sam says and we walk over to him and see him pointing his flashlight at the mirror. Dean holds up the picture, comparing the two.

"That's it. You sure about this?" He asks me and I hand him my flashlight.

"Bloody Mary." I sigh, looking back at the guys and then turning back to the mirror. "Bloody Mary." I mutter, grabbing a crowbar. "Bloody Mary."

"I'll go check that out. Stay here, be careful. Smash anything that moves." He tells me and turns to the door. "Crap." He mutters when he sees its a headlight. I turn back to the mirror and ready myself. I see Mary in a different mirror in the corner of my eye and I smash it. She moves to a different one and I smash that one too. She moves to her mirror and I look at the mirror. I stare at my reflection, which seems to be alive. I start to have trouble breathing and a trickle of blood comes out of my eye, I drop the crowbar and grab my heart, feeling it tightening.

"_It's your fault.. You killed them.. You killed your parents." _My reflection tells me. _"You never should have gone to that party." _She says and I fall to the ground._ "But you just had to go, didn't you? To be normal? To fit in? You will never be normal. Your parents never would have been on that bridge if you hadn't snuck out to go to that party, or if you hadn't have been too drunk to walk home. They died because of you. You always make reckless choices without thinking and look what happens!" _My reflection rants at me but is cut off by the mirror being smashed. Suddenly someone is shaking me.

"Soph? Sophia" Dean yells, worriedly.

"It's Sophie, Winchester." I mumble.

"God, are you okay?" Sam asks me, referring to the blood coming from my eyes.

"Uh, yeah." I tell them.

"Come on, come on." Dean says, helping me up. He puts his arm around me and we start walking to the door. That is, until we hear glass crunching and turn to see Mary crawling out of the frame like that chick from The Ring. Mary walks towards us and we all fall to the ground, bleeding from our eyes, but Dean reaches up and grabs a mirror, showing Mary her reflection. Mary starts choking to death and she melts into a pile of blood.

"Hey Sam?" Dean asks him.

"Yeah?" He replies.

"This has got to be like.. what, 600 years of bad luck?" Dean asks and I chuckle weakly. We get into the car, head back to the motel and clean the blood off ourselves. We explain, to Charlie, what happened with Mary and she was relieved that she was safe. We get in the impala and drive her home. I'm sitting in the back with Charlie and Dean and Sam are in their usual spots. We pull up outside her house.

"So this is really over?" She asks us again, not believing it. I smile and squeeze her hand.

"Yeah, it's over." Dean tells her, nodding. He reaches back and shakes her hand. She gets out of the car.

"Thank you." She turns toward the house.

"Charlie?" Sam calls out. "Your boyfriend's death.. you really should forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." Sam tells her and she smiles slightly before heading inside. I gently hit him.

"That's good advice." I tell him playfully. Then my thoughts turn to my parents and my smile fades.

"Hey Sam?" Dean asks him.

"Yeah?" He responds.

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is." Dean tells him.

"Look... you're my brother and I'd die for you, but there are some things that I need to keep to myself." Sam says cryptically.

"What about you, sweetheart? You wanna tell me that secret you summoned Mary with?" He asks me and I sigh.

"When I was 15, I snuck out and went to a dumb party with my friend, Camry. She was a year older than me. Her dad was a hunter who was friends with my parents and her mom is a psychic. We got really drunk and she left with some guy. I panicked and called my mom. They came and got me immediately, but started to lecture me about how getting drunk dulls my reflexes. I guess the car hit a patch of black ice or something because the car swerved and we went over the bridge and into the water. I remember it being really cold and I couldn't swim. My mom had hit her head in the impact and she wasn't moving, but dad was trying to unbuckle me, but it was stuck. One minute I'm in the car, drowning, the next I'm on the river bank, next to a man in a trench coat, telling me that 'God has plans for me.'" I tell them and they look shocked. Dean meets my eyes in the rear view mirror and they look so sympathetic, I smile sadly at him. I turn and look out the window and for a second, I swear I see that man, the one in the trench coat from the night of the crash, on the side of the road. I blink and he's gone.


	8. Skin

After driving for a few hours we finally pull into a gas station.

"Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He tells us and Sam doesn't respond. "Sam wears women's underwear." He says to Sam and I roll my eyes.

"I've been listenin', I'm just busy." Sam replies, not looking up from his blackberry.

"Busy doin' what?" Dean asks him curiously.

"Reading e-mails." Sam tells him as Dean gets out of the car and starts to fill the tank with gas.(

"E-mails from who?" I ask him, between bites of my candy bar.

"From my friends at Stanford." He responds, still not looking up.

"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean asks him, surprised.

"Why not?" Sam asks him, confused.

"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?" Dean asks as he walks back over to the passenger side and leans against the car, and I take another bite of my candy.

"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and his girlfriend. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess." Sam explains to us.

"Oh, so you lie to 'em." I say as I take another bite of my candy bar and sit forward.

"No. I just don't tell 'em….everything." Sam says unconvincingly.

"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse." Dean tells him.

"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" he asks and Dean shrugs. "You're serious?" Sam asks when he sees Dean's face and then at mine.

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." Dean tells him and I nod.

"You two are kind of anti-social, you know that?" Sam says and I chuckle.

"Yeah, whatever." Dean mumbles and Sam keeps reading his emails. Dean leans over to my window and takes a bite of my candy bar.

"God…." Sam exclaims and we both turn to look at him.

"What?" I ask him, concerned.

"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine." Sam informs us.

"Is she hot?" Dean asks him and Sam ignores him, while I glare at him.

"I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam explains and I frown.

"Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" Dean asks him.

"No, man, I know Zack. He's no killer." Sam argues.

"Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." I offer in between bites of my candy.

"They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." He tells us and Dean chuckles.

"Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." Dean disagrees.

"It is our problem. They're my friends." Sam insists.

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." He tells him and they look at each other for a minute before Dean turns to me. I give him a look and we pull out of the gas station, heading to St. Louis. We arrive at Rebecca's house, knock on the door and a pretty blonde answers the door.

"Oh my God, Sam!" The blonde exclaims happily.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam replies.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She says smiling and they hug.

"I got your e-mail." He informs her.

"I didn't think that you would come here." Dean steps forward and holds out his hand.

"Dean. Older brother." He introduces himself and she shakes his hand. I step forward and wave.

"Sophie. I'm Dean's girlfriend." I tell her smiling, and she smiles back.

"Hi." She tells us.

"Hi." Dean says to her and I roll my eyes at him.

"We're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam informs her.

"Come in." She invites us into the house and we walk in, Dean closing the door behind him. We follow Becky into the house and I look around.

"Nice place." I compliment.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free." She explains.

"Where are your folks?" Sam asks her, curious as to why they aren't here.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." She tells us as we walk into the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?" She asks and Dean smiles.

"Hey-" Dean starts to say something.

"No, thanks. So, tell us what happened." Sam interrupts.

"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." She tells us, starting to cry. "So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police—they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." She tells us.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." Sam says and I glance at him confused.

"We could." Dean agrees.

"Why? I mean, what could you do?" Becky asks them, probably just as confused as me.

"Well, me, not much. But Dean's a cop." Sam informs her and I force a smile while Dean laughs.

"Detective, actually." He corrects and I roll my eyes.

"Really?" She asks and Dean nods. "Where?" She questions him.

"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now." He elaborates and I just know this is going to come back to bite us in the ass.

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just—I don't know." She replies unsure.

"Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." Sam says to her and it seems to convince her.

"Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys." She says, walking down the hall. I sigh and hit Sam on the arm, hard. When Dean smirks at him I hit him on the chest.

"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends. And you, really detective? You had to dig that hole deeper for yourself?" I scold them.

"Look, Zack and Becky need our help." Sam pleads.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean responds.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." Sam argues and I sigh, while Dean just says nothing, defeated. Becky comes back and we drive to Zack's house. We pull up and walk to the door.

"Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asks her once we open the door.

"No. I wanna help." She replies as she ducks under the police tape and enters the house.

"Tell us what else the police said." I tell her, as I take in the blood stained house.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers—they're already talking about plea bargain." She says tearfully, and she looks around the room, crying.

"Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Sam asks her and she shakes her head but stops.

"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack's clothes. The police—they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." She informs us and Sam walks away, while I walk over to the front door and open it, seeing the neighbor's dog barking loudly. Rebecca comes up next to me. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." She tells me, looking at it.

"What happened?" I ask her, curious.

"He just changed." She replies.

"Do you remember when he changed?" I question her.

"I guess around the time of the murder." She answers and I look at her for a minute before walking away. I find Sam and Dean looking at a picture of Sam, Becky and Zack. I walk over to them.

"So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed." I inform them.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Sam explains.

"Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin'." Dean suggest and we turn to him.

"So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?" Sam asks him, smirking.

"No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." Dean tells us.

"Yeah." I say kissing his cheek while raising a brow at him. He just smirks at me.

"Yeah." He says and then Becky walks over to us. "So, the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." Dean explains to her.

"I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop." She informs us, Dean laughs. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself." She tells us.

"All right." Dean says and we all leave. We head back to Becky's and start watching the tapes.

"Here he comes." She tells us and the tape shows Zack entering his house.

"22:04, that's just after ten. You said time of death was about 10:30." Dean remarks after noticing the time stamp.

"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." She informs us and Sam seems to notice something on the tape.

"Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" He asks her.

"Oh, sure." She says and gets up to head to the kitchen.

"Hey." He calls and she turns around. " Maybe some sandwiches, too?" He asks her.

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" She asks rhetorically and then leaves.

"I wish." Dean says and I hit him, then we walk over to Sam. "What is it?" He asks Sam.

"Check this out." He tells us as he rewinds the tape, then replays it. One of the frames shows Zack looking directly at the camera. His eyes are silver. Sam pauses the tape.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean suggests.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Sam explains.

"Right." I agree.

"Remember that dog that was freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him." Sam supplies and I think it over.

"Like a Doppelganger." Dean interjects.

"Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once." Sam tells us. Sam wakes us up at 5:30 in the morning and we head over to Zack's house. I insisted we stop for coffee before we went anywhere and I was so thankful I did. We park behind his house in and we get out.

"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asks him, voicing my thoughts.

"I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out." Sam explains.

"So, he came out the back door?" Dean suggests, leaning against the hood of the car, and I hop on to it, sitting on it.

"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue." Sam agrees.

"'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning." I interject as Sam looks around and I notice smeared blood on a telephone pole not too far away.

"Blood. Somebody came this way." Sam tells us.

"Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." Dean informs us after looking around. An ambulance drives past them and we all share looks before heading in that direction. We get to the scene to see an Asian man, handcuffed, stepping into a police car.

"What happened?" I ask a woman standing near me.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." She informs me and that sounds like Zack's case.

"Really?" Sam asks her.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." She says as we watch the man get taken away. Later we're on the side of the house, looking around. Sam and I are checking in garbage cans but we don't find anything so we head to the front of the house, where Dean comes behind us.

"Hey." He says and we turn around. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean reminds us and I smirk.

"Yeah." Sam replies.

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean admits.

"What'd you find out?" I ask him, curious as to the new information.

"Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Dean explains.

"So, he was two places at once." I interject and Dean nods.

"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob." Dean summarizes.

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam says.

"Could be the same thing doin' it, too." Dean suggests and I think for a second.

"Shapeshifter?" I ask and Dean shrugs. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?" I offer.

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." Dean informs us and I bite my lip because he's so hot when he explains lore to me, because well, it doesn't happen that often.

"Right, skinwalkers, werewolves." Sam agrees.

"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood." Dean tells us.

"Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asks and I raise a brow.

"Not that I know of." I tell him, confused.

"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way." He explains.

"Just like your friend's house." Dean realizes.

"Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." Sam tells us and I frown when something occurs to me.

"Well, there's another way to go—down." I tell them and we all look down, noticing a manhole. We head down into the sewers and I gag at the smell.

"Winchester, you owe me a night out that isn't hunting or walking around a sewer or no sex for, like, a month." I tell him and he chuckles.

"Don't say I never take you anywhere, Soph." He tells me and I roll my eyes, and Sam clears his throat.

"I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam informs us.

"I think you're right. Look at this." Dean says, and we bend down to examine a pile of blood and skin on the ground. I share a disgusted look with Dean.

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asks and Dean takes out a pocketknife, holding up some skin.

"You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds." He says and I look at Sam, revolted at that thought.

"That is sick." Sam admits and Dean puts the bloody pile back on the ground. We head back to the impala and Dean opens the trunk to the weapons compartment and begins taking some out.

"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean tells us.

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam supplies and I smile.

"That's right." Dean tells him and Sam's phone rings, so he walks a little ways away to answer it.

"Since it's a shifter, we have to be careful, it could take anyone's form." Dean reminds me and I nod.

"I know, Dean. Besides, I would know if it wasn't you. We've been together for a few months now. I know all the little things you do, your little quirks. And if he doesn't flirt with everything that walks, that would be a big red flag that he isn't you." I tell him, winking and he pulls me to him, kissing me. We break apart when we hear Sam apologize and we walk over to him. He looks so disappointed.

"I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—it'd be easier if-" Dean starts to say.

"If I was like you." Sam interrupts and I don't like what he's implying, or how he says it, for that matter.

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." Dean tells him, holding up two guns, which Sam and I both take and tuck into the backs of our jeans before we walk away. We go back down into the sewers to look around for the shifter.

"I think we're close to its lair." Dean announces to us.

"Why do you say that?" I ask him.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face, sweetheart." He tells me and I turn to see more blood and skin on a nearby pipe.

"Oh, God!" I exclaim brushing myself off and look around, noticing a pile of clothes in a corner.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." Dean supplies.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam says and Sam and I both turn to see the shifter, still disguised as the Asian man, standing behind Dean. " Dean!" Sam calls out and Dean turns, getting punched by the shifter. He falls to the ground and the shifter runs away. Sam and I shoot after it a few times but we both miss. I move over to Dean.

"Get the son of a bitch!" Dean yells and we all chase after the shifter. We split up, Dean going into an alley, Sam going on a side street and I run onto the main street. I stop in the middle of the street and turn quickly to see Dean running up behind me.

"Dean? I thought you were taking the alley?" I ask him, confused as to why he's here.

"I lost the bastard. I wanted to make sure you were okay, that he didn't get you. I was worried." He tells me but I'm not convinced.

"Mm-hmm. You never worry about me. According to you, I'm one of the best hunters you know." I tell 'Dean' playfully and he smirks.

"Well, you are. You are an amazing hunter, so I thought if I stick with you, I'd be safe." He tells me, winking, and I have to admit, it's almost like Dean, but something in his eyes isn't right, so I raise my gun and his eyebrows raise.

"Sophie, what are you doing? It's me." He tells me and I shake my head.

"No, there's something in your eyes that's off. What did you do with Dean? Where is he?!" I yell at him and he grins, wickedly, his eyes flashing silver. He rushes forward and twists my arm back and hits me on the head and everything goes black.

Sam POV

I wait on a street corner for Sophie and Dean to meet me.

"Hey." I hear Dean call out and I turn around. "Anything?" He asks me.

"No. He's gone. Where's Soph?" I ask him, wondering where she is.

"All right, let's get back to the car, she's probably waiting for us there." Dean tells me and we head back to the car. We stop at the car and Sophie isn't there, so she must have been taken.

"You think he found another way underground? Took Soph with him?" I ask Dean.

"Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Dean says not worried about Sophie and I stop, thinking for a minute. Dean would normally be going crazy at the thought of Sophie being missing.

"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" I ask 'Dean', testing him.

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?" 'Dean' reminds me.

"Oh, right. Here ya go." I say, throwing the keys and walking away. "Don't move!" I tell him, and 'Dean' turns to see me pointing the gun at him. "What have you done with them?" I ask him.

"Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" 'Dean' tries to tell me.

"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother? Where's Sophie?" I ask him again, getting mad.

"You're about to shoot him and we'll find Sophie. Sam, calm down." He tells me.

"You caught those keys with your left hand. Your shoulder was hurt." I tell him.

"Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?" He asks, sarcastically, almost like Dean would.

"You're not my brother." I say to him.

"Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me." 'Dean' tries to convince me again, but I don't buy it.

"Don't." I warn him. The shapeshifter pauses before hitting me twice with a crowbar. I fall to the ground, everything going black. I wake up in a dusty room, my neck and hands bound to a wooden post. The shapeshifter walks over to me and backhands me, causing me to groan.

"Where is he? Where's Dean? And where's Sophie?" I ask him.

"I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you." He tells me but I ignore it.

"Where is he? Where is she?" I ask again.

"You don't really wanna know." He replies, chuckling. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background." He tells me.

"What do you mean, learn?" I ask confused and the shifter grabs his head and grimaces in pain. I look at the shapeshifter, confused. The shapeshifter relaxes and looks at me.

"He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? To have a normal life with Sophie? But Dad needed me, needed Sophie. Where the hell were you?" The shifter asks me.

"Where is my brother? Where is Sophie?" I ask again and the shapeshifter leans in close to me.

"I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. Even Sophie'll leave too." He says, backing away.

"What are you talkin' about?" I ask, confused.

"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin', just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks." He tells me and then laughs. "Like Sophie. You know, Dean really loves her, like enough to leave the life and settle down. I've seen some pretty steamy moments between them. She's at Becky's right now, protecting her. Let's see if I can recreate some." He says, smiling as he covers me with a sheet.

Sophie POV

I wake up with a nasty headache and I bloody gash on my forehead and I walk to Becky's. She opens the door and gasps when she sees my head.

"Look, we lied. It was a shitty thing to do but we were trying to help. Let me in and I'll explain. Please, Becky." I tell her and she opens the door enough for me to walk in.

Sam POV

"Damn it." I mutter, and I hear movement in another part of the room and someone coughing.

"That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature." Dean calls out and I laugh.

"Yeah, it's me." I tell him. "He went to find Sophie at Becky's, lookin' like you." I inform him.

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Dean calls out and I give him a confused look before continuing to work through my ropes.

Sophie POV

We walk in to the living room, and Becky heads into a bathroom and comes back with some medicine.

"This should help with your headache." She says and I smile before I take the pills.

"Thanks." I tell her and she heads down the hallway. The pills she gave me start to kick in, and they hit me hard.

"Shit, what did she give me?" I mumble to myself as I grab the railing to steady myself. I see Dean walk up to me and I smile.

"Dean! You're okay." I say, relieved, until I see it isn't Dean. I try to scream but his hand covers my mouth.

"Little Becky's unconscious right now. Nobody can hear you scream. We're going to have some fun." He tells me, removing his hand and slamming his lips onto mine. It's the exact copy of Dean's lips but it feels so wrong whereas Dean's kisses feel so right. I jerk away and wipe my lips.

"Don't do that again. You aren't Dean. You're just some freak wearing his face like a halloween mask." I tell him and he backhands me so hard I fall back and hit my head on the edge of a stair, my vision blurring, I see his face grinning at me before everything going black.

Sam POV

"Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you." I inform him.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks me, confused.

"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories." I explain to him.

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" Dean asks me.

"Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us." I suggest and Dean walks over to me.

"Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection." He says as he starts untying my ropes.

"Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably got Sophie already." I say and we hurry to Becky's to save Sophie.

Sophie POV

I wake up, tied to a bed, and stripped down to my black bra and panties. I struggle against the ropes until I hear chuckling, which makes me freeze. It's not him. It's the shifter, not Dean, Sophie.

"No use, babe, you can't escape. We're going to have some fun. Besides, I thought you like this face." He says from his spot leaning against the wall and I glare at him.

"It isn't just his face, it's _him. _He's kind, and brave, and he is the most compassionate man I've ever met. You are nothing like him, so don't try to be him. You're just hiding behind a mask." I bite out and he gets on top of me, takes out a knife and starts making small cuts on my stomach. I gasp in pain and he stops.

"You're only making this more painful than it needs to be, Sophie. This could be so much more, pleasurable." He says smirking, leaning down to kiss my but I turn my head in disgust. He growls and slaps me. A tear falls as I look into his face, Dean's face, that has so much hate in it, where love is usually present. He wraps a hand around my throat and chokes me for a minute until I have black spots.

"For that, I'll make this slow and very painfully for you." He promises, making slightly deeper cuts on my ambdomen and than taking the knife up to my breast and lightly tracing the border of where my bra stops on my breast. I let a few more tears escape before I decide I won't let him see me fall apart. I hear the front door kicked in and he gets off me, heading to the door.

"I'll be back. Just got to go kill that boyfriend of yours." He tells me, closing the door behind him. I let my tears fall freely, and struggle against the restraints again. I hear several gunshots and I let out a whimper. Oh god, Dean. He actually killed him. I pull at the sheets tied around my wrists and ankles until I feel them creating rope burns, but that just makes me struggle harder. Suddenly the door slams open and Dean, no, the shifter is standing there, gun in hand and I let out a sob.

"You killed him. Oh, god." I sob and then he comes over and takes out the knife, and I flinch back, trying to sink into the bed. "Please, no more." I beg and he cuts my restraints. I immediately sit up and hurriedly move backwards, away from him, putting my head in my hands, not looking at him.

"Soph, sweetheart, it's me. I swear it's me. The first time we met, you were wearing a def leopard t-shirt and ripped jeans and that big leather jacket with your chuck taylors. I held you while you cried when you woke up from a nightmare that night. I've been in love with you since I was 16. Look at me, Soph." He pleads and I look up, seeing his teary eyes, so full of love, fear and maybe guilt.

"Dean?" I ask, my voice raspy and he nods, a tear falling down his cheek before he brushes it away quickly.

"Yeah, baby. Are you okay? Did he- I mean, I know that you're probably in shock it's just, I have to know if he-" Dean stumbles through his words and I shake my head.

"No. He was going to, but you stopped him." I tell him, my voice still raspy and he sighs, relieved.

"You want me to get Becky to help you get cleaned up?" He asks and I shake my head, as I stand up and walk into the bathroom connected to the room. Dean walks in and reaches over to brush a piece of hair out of my face and I flinch unintentionally. I cover my mouth with my hand and look up at him.

"Dean, I.." I try to say but he shakes his head.

"Don't apologize, sweetheart. I'll go get Becky." He says sadly, I look up and see the hurt in his face and once he leave I break into sobs. Becky rushes into the room, with a duffel bag, and takes me in her arms, holding me while I sob.

DPOV

After Soph flinches from me, I try to hide the hurt that it caused me and I hurry out of the room, downstairs where Sam and Becky waited. They both turn to me, anxiously.

"How is she?" Sam asks, worriedly. I turn to Becky.

"Can you help her get cleaned up? Some of her clothes are in this bag." I tel her grabbing the duffel from the table, and handing it to her.

"Of course." She says, taking the bag and hurrying upstairs. Sam looks at me expectantly and I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"If that son of a bitch wasn't already dead, I'd kill him, Sammy." I tell him and he nods.

"How is she?" He asks me again.

"She just about jumps every time I so much as breathe. She flinched away from me, Sammy. She's scared of me. That bastard tried to- and she's so scared of me I don't think she'll trust me again." I tell him, fear and hurt lacing my voice.

"Dean, she loves you so much. She's loved you for 11 years. She just had a traumatic experience but she won't be scared of you forever. Just give her some time and you'll see." Sam says and I nod. Becky comes down with Soph behind her and I step back, giving her space, and I see her tear up. She hurries over to me and throws herself into my arms and I hug her back tightly as she buries her face in my shoulder and cries.

Sophie POV

After Becky helps me clean up, I change into a pair of worn out jeans, my brown combat boots, a red tank and a red and black flannel of Dean's before heading downstairs. Once he sees me, he steps back, to give me space and I feel my eyes fill with tears. Without thinking, I run to him and throw myself into his arms, because when I'm in his arms I feel safe, and I cry when he hugs me back tightly, almost like he's scared that if he loosens his grip, I'll run away.

"I'm sorry." I tell him and he shakes his head. He pulls back and looks into my eyes, I notice he has unshed tears in his.

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I should've gotten here sooner. You've got nothing to apologize for, sweetheart." He tells me and I smile slightly.

"Neither do you Winchester. You saved me. You were my knight in shining armor. I love you." I tell him and he smiles, a genuine happy, relieved smile.

"I love you too, Soph." He says and I kiss him, showing him I'm not scared of him. Later, I'm looking over a map when Dean comes up behind me and I lean into him, now comfortable around him again.

"Hey." He says and I grin.

"Hey." I respond as he kisses my neck. I bite my lip and look over at Sam and Becky.

"Look at them." I tell him and we glance at them. Becky waves at us and we wave back to her before she goes back inside. Sam walks over to us.

"So, what about your friend, Zack?" Dean asks him.

"Cops are blamin' this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becky says Zack will be released soon." Sam tells us, smiling and Dean rolls his eyes, getting in the car. Sam gets in the passenger seat and I take my place in the backseat.

"Sorry, man." Dean tells Sam.

"About what?" Sam asks him curiously.

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College. That we both could have normal lives." Dean says, glancing in the rear view mirror and I smile at him.

"No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." He tells us.

"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak." I tell him playfully, leaning forward and nudging him.

"Yeah, thanks." Sam says to me and I giggle.

"Well, I'm a freak, too. So is Soph, we're right there with ya, all the way." Dean tells him and Sam laughs.

"Yeah, I know you are." Sam tells us.

"You know, I gotta say—I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean tells us and I look at him.

"Miss what?" I ask him, confused.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" He asks and I roll my eyes while he and Sam smile at each other as we continue down the road.


	9. Hook Man

Sam is on a payphone outside the cafe while Dean and I are on the laptop. I'm drinking my coffee, black with three sugars, same as Dean's when Sam comes back over.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis." Dean tells him and I smirk.

"Bite me." Sam retorts as he sits down.

"So, anything?" I ask and Sam shakes his head.

"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations." Same informs us and I sigh.

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean tells him and Sam looks disappointed. "Check this out." He tells him, showing him an article we found about a college student's death. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here." He explains.

"The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road." Sam reads out loud.

"Keep reading." Dean tells him.

"Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible." Sam continues to read.

"Could be something interesting." I speak up, shrugging my shoulders.

"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." Sam dismisses.

"But what if it is? Dad would check it out." Dean replies and we head to the impala. We stop at the dead guy, Rich's, fraternity house. The guys look confused until I get out of the backseat and they all check me out. I'm wearing a cropped Van Halen v-neck, my dark ripped jeans, and my black chucks.

"One more time, why are we here?" Sam asks and I nod, feeling uncomfortable by the stares.

"Victim lived here." Dean explains as we walk up to a couple guys fixing a car. "Nice wheels." Dean compliments and the guys look at him strangely. "We're your fraternity brothers. From Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay." He explains, grinning, until he notices the stares in my direction. "And this is my girlfriend, Sophie." He states, pulling me close to him and sizing up the guys, which causes me to roll my eyes. We walk up to a dorm room and find a shirtless frat boy in yellow shorts painting his face and body purple. We knock on the open door.

"Who are you?" Yellow shorts asks us.

"We're your new roommates. And this is my girlfriend, Sophie." Dean tells him, smiling as he walks over to him. The guy holds the paint brush and can out to Dean.

"Do me a favor? Get my back. Big game today." He asks and I suppress a giggle.

"He's the artist. Things he can do with a brush." I interject and Sam looks mortified as he takes the brush and can. Dean is grinning at me as he sits on a chair picking up a magazine.

"So, Murph. Is it true?" He asks after finding out the name from the magazine.

"What?" Murph asks, confused.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." I supply from my place sitting on the arm of the chair Dean is in.

"Yeah." He replies, sadly.

"What happened?" Sam asks, as he paints Murph's back.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy." Murph informs us.

"Rich he was with somebody?" Sam asks him, knowing he was by the witness report.

"Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen." Murph tells us, like that is supposed to mean something.

"Who's Lori Sorensen?" Dean asks Murph. He looks over at Sam. "You missed a spot. Just down there, on the back." He tells him and Sam looks annoyed while Dean and I grin.

"Lori's a freshman. She's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's a reverend's daughter." Murph explains and I roll my eyes.

"You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?" I ask him and he tells us. We head into the impala to drive to the church.

"What is it with guys and reverend's daughters? Does that make a woman extra hot if she was raised believing in God? I will never understand what makes that more attractive to men." I rant from the backseat as we pull up to the church. Dean turns the car off and turns to me.

"Personally, I'm more attracted to a hunter, someone who doesn't need rescuing. Besides, a woman that knows her weapons and her cars is way hotter than a girl who knows bible verses, hands down." He tells me, smirking and I smirk right back.

"Way to score some points, Winchester. Never know when you need to cash those in." I tell him, winking as we walk up to the church, with Sam mumbling about us flirting outside a church.

We walk in, and the door slams behind us. The congregation goes silent and turns to look at us. "As a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings." The reverend continues his sermon as we sit down. A brunette, about Sam's age, stares at Sam and he smiles weakly at her. "So, please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children." The reverend says and everyone bows their head in prayer, except me and Dean. Sam looks over and elbows Dean, while giving me a look, and Dean and I bow our heads too. We walk outside after the mass ends, and we spot the girl that was staring at Sam talking to her friend, and when she hugs her friend, and she leaves, we walk up to her.

"Are you Lori?" Sam asks her.

"Yeah." She confirms.

"My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean and his girlfriend, Sophie." He introduces and Dean waves while I just smile at her.

"Hi." Dean greets her.

"We just transferred here to the university." Sam lies with his hands in his pockets.

"I saw you inside." She says, nodding slightly.

"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..." Sam starts.

"We wanted to say how sorry we were." I tell her, sympathetically.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I-I saw someone..get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Sam tells hers, and Lori nods slightly. Reverend Sorensen walks over.

"Dad, um, this is Sam, Dean and Sophie. They're new students." Lori introduces us to her father and Dean shakes his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." Dean compliments him.

"Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." The reverend tells us and Dean chuckles.

"Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually." He tells him, as he leads the reverend away from us so we can talk to Lori. "And, uh, we were looking for a, um, a church group" We hear him say as they leave.

"Tell me, Lori. What are the police saying?" I ask her as we start to walk in the other direction.

"Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that." She admits and I look at her.

"What do you mean?" I ask her, confused as to why she would think they'd blame her.

"My story. I was so scared, I guess I was 'seeing things'." She says and we stop walking.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't real." Sam tells her and they look at each other for a few seconds while I raise my brows. We head over to the library to research this 'Invisible Man' that killed Rich.

"So you believe her?" Dean asks as we sit at a table, discussing Lori's story about Rich's death.

"I do." Sam tells him.

"Yeah, I think she's hot, too." Dean says playfully, and scoff before scooting my chair away from him.

"No, man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Sam explains to him.

"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the-" Dean says, interested.

"Yeah, I know, the Hook Man legend." Sam agrees with him.

"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man?" I ask him, unsure that it's the Hook Man we're dealing with.

"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began." Sam informs us.

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" I ask.

"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?" Sam prompts. We ask the librarian to find arrest records for us, and she comes back with a few big boxes, which she puts on the table.

"Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851." She tells us, and Dean blows some dust off a box, causing him to cough. "Thanks." He says to her.

"Ok." She replies before walking away.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" I ask Sam, playfully, gesturing to the boxes.

"Welcome to higher education." He jokes back before we begin reading. Hours pass and we're still looking. I'm leaning my head against Dean's shoulder, napping, until he nudges me awake.

"Hey, check this out. 1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.'" Sam reads to us.

"Get this, the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook." Dean informs us after looking at another page. Sam looks at another page.

"Look where all this happened." Sam says, handing it to Dean and we both read it.

"9 Mile Road." He reads out loud.

"Same place where the frat boy was killed." Sam adds in and I smile.

"Nice job, Dr. Venkmen. Let's check it out." Dean says, impressed, and Sam gathers the research and we head to 9 mile road to investigate. We get out of the car and walk over to the trunk, opening up the weapons compartment. Dean grabs Sam a rifle.

"Here you go." He says and I look at it confused.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam tells him.

"Yeah, rock salt." He tells us, handing it to Sam

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent." I figure out. Dean takes out a coil of rope and shuts the trunk.

"Yeah. It won't kill 'em. But it'll slow 'em down." He says and we start walking toward the trees, me lagging behind, in case something comes up behind us.

"That's pretty good. You and Dad think of this?" Sam asks, sounding impressed.

"I told you. You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." Dean replies and we hear noised in the trees, and we stop walking. I turn, looking behind us.

"Over there. Over there." Dean whispers, and Sam aims the gun, cocking it, A figure comes out of the trees, and it's a freaking sheriff. I stand there, hiding behind Dean, playing the innocent girl part.

"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head." He orders us, raising his gun.

"W-w-wait, okay, okay!" I stutter, trying to sound scared. He looks at me and nods his head, indicating I'm not getting arrested.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" The sheriff demands and they do as he said. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!" He orders them.

"He had the gun!" Dean objects as they lay down. I go to the sheriff's station and convince the sheriff to let Sam and Dean go after making up a story about why we were in the woods. I wait outside the station and see the guys leaving, I walk up to them, now wearing a black leather jacket, white tank, light ripped jeans and black combat boots.

"Saved your asses! Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I'm the best girlfriend and best friend ever."

"But how?" Sam asks, confused.

"I told him you were a dumbass pledge, that Dean was hazing you and I was there because I'm his girlfriend. I also said Dean and I had been making out in the impala and I didn't want him to call my parents." I explain to him, pretty pleased with myself.

"What about the shotgun?" Dean asks, amused.

"I said that Sam was hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know, typical Hell Week prank." I tell them.

"And he believed you?" Sam asks, sounding surprised.

"Well, you look like a dumbass pledge. And I'm a very convincing liar, Sammy." I tell him, playfully. Seconds later, several sheriffs run out of the building and speed away in police cars. The three of us share a look as we watch them leave. We park a couple streets away and walk to the back of Lori's sorority house.

"Why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from 9 Mile Road." Sam observes.

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it's about something else." Dean suggests. Two sorority girls come out the side entrance of the building, but they don't see us. We lean against the side of the house next to some bushes to hide. "Dude, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?" Dean asks hopefully and I elbow him in the side before turning to help Sam climb onto the balcony. Dean helps me climb up, his hands resting on my butt longer than necessary, before climbing up himself. As soon as we're on the balcony, we climb into Lori's window. Dean falls on top of Sam as he climbs into the window after him. "Oh, sorry!" He apologizes. I climb in after them and sigh.

"Be quiet." Sam tell him.

"You be quiet!" Dean retorts and I roll my eyes.

"Both of you be quiet!" I scold them and we hide in the walk-in closet waiting for the sheriffs to leave. Sam opens the door to see another sheriff leaving. We wait until he goes downstairs before opening the door, and walking into Lori's bedroom. As soon as we're in the bedroom, we see writing on the wall in blood.

"'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?' That's right out of the legend." I observe.

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right." Dean agrees, tapping his nose. "It's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before." Sam says and Dean moves over to the window "Hey, come here." Sam tells him and Dean walks back over to us. Sam points to the cross symbol beneath the writing. "Does that look familiar to you?" He asks us and I recognize it. We go back to the car, sit on the hood, and look at a picture of the cross symbol that we saw during our research.

"It's the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns." I tell them.

"All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down." Dean suggests.

"After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave." Sam reads and we all share an annoyed look.

"Super." Dean says at the same time I mutter "Perfect".

"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns. But we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why." Sam summarizes and I nod.

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this." Dean tells him and we get in the car. We're at a college party and Dean walks up to me and Sam.

"Hey." Sam greets him.

"Man, you've been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!" He says, smiling at a passing girl, and I snap my fingers in front of his face.

"Hello? Girlfriend, remember? Do you even want one anymore?" I ask, irritated by his constant flirting with other women in front of me, and he looks guilty before Sam clears his throat.

"This wasn't really my experience." Sam tells him, referring to Dean's comment.

"Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's?" Dean asks and Sam nods. "What a geek. Alright, you do your homework?" He asks Sam.

"Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori? So I think we came up with something." Sam tells him as he unravels a piece of paper that we found.

"1932. Clergyman arrested for murder. 1967. Seminarian held in hippie rampage." Dean reads.

"There's a pattern here. In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out—get this—with a sharp instrument." I explain to him.

"What's the connection to Lori?" Dean asks us.

"A man of religion? Who openly preaches against immorality?" Sam prompts and recognition flashes across Dean's face. "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter." Sam suggests.

"Reverend Sorensen. You think he's summoning the spirit?" Dean asks us.

"Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?" I ask him, still mad.

"Yeah, the spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them, yeah, okay." Dean says.

"Without the reverend ever even knowing it." Sam adds.

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight." I tell Sam and he nods.

"What about you?" He asks us and Dean looks at me, silently apologizing and I scoff.

"We're gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave." Dean tells him before I just shake my head and walk off, with Dean trailing behind me. We head over to Old North Cemetery and it was silent the entire drive over. Once we get there, Dean parks the car and sighs, looking over at me. We get out, grab two flashlights and begin looking for the headstone.

"Soph, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I do still want this, I just have no idea what I'm doing." He admits and I rub my temples.

"Not flirting with every freaking girl you see would be a start in the right direction. I mean, I know that they'll still flirt with you, I mean, look at you. You're hot. I know that they aren't going to stop. Just, try not to encourage them or I'll have to start flirting with every guy I see until you get the message." I rant and he smirks.

"Message received." He tells me and I laugh, continuing our search for the unmarked grave.

"Here we go." Dean calls out and I walk over, to see he found the headstone with the cross. He goes to the impala and grabs a shovel. He digs while I sit in the grass, watching him, or more accurately, drooling over him.

"That's it. Next time, we get to watch the girl's house and Sam can dig up the grave." He tells me.

"I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying myself, Winchester." I mutter, watching the way his back muscles contract as he digs. He turns and looks at me, before leaning against the shovel.

"Keep looking at me like that, sweetheart, and I'll have to do something about that." He threatens and I bite my lip to suppress a groan.

"God I hope so." I admit and he chuckles as he turns back to the grave, he opens the coffin and we grab the salt and a match, lighting it.

"Goodbye, preacher." Dean says before throwing the match in the coffin, burning his bones. We get back into the impala and head over to Lori's house, where we see police cars, and we learn that Lori, Sam and Reverend Sorensen are at the hospital so we hurry over there. We're escorted by two sheriffs.

"No, it's alright, We're with him. He's my brother." Dean tells them. "Hey! Brother!" Dean calls out and Sam, along with the sheriff, turn around to see us. I smile, while Dean waves.

"Let them through." The sheriff tells them and they let us pass.

"Thanks." Dean tells the sheriff before we walk towards Sam. "You ok?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah." Sam tells him, reassuring him he's fine.

"What the hell happened?" I ask him, curious about what happened.

"Hook Man." Sam replies and Dean and I share an alarmed look.

"You saw him?" I ask him, worriedly.

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?" Sam asks us.

"What are you talking about, we did. You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" Dean asks him.

"It sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend."

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself." I reply, crossing my arms.

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman." Sam informs us and I connect the dots but Dean is still confused.

"So what?" He asks and I sigh.

"So she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished." Sam explains to us.

"Ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?" Dean suggests and we nod.

"Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair." I add.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off. But we burned those bones, Soph buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?" Dean asks, confused.

"You must have missed something." Sam tells us and I shake my head.

"No. We burned everything in that coffin." I insist.

"Did you get the hook?" Sam asks and I swear under my breath realizing, we did in fact, miss something.

"The hook?" Dean asks, obliviously.

"Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him." Sam explains to him.

"So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power." I interject.

"So if we find the hook..." Sam starts.

"We stop the Hook Man." They say at the same time and smile at each other while I snort.

"So lame." I tell them and Dean kisses my forehead after nudging me playfully. We head back to the campus library to figure out what happened to the hook. I'm sitting in between Sam and Dean as we comb through the records, and I'm chewing on a pen cap as I read.

"Here's something, I think. Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. 'Karns, Jacob. Personal affects: disposition thereof.'" Dean reads to us and I lean towards him so I can read over his shoulder.

"Does it mention the hook?" I ask him, resting my head on his shoulder as I read the log.

"Yeah, maybe. 'Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church.'" He reads out loud.

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" Sam asks and I straighten up in my chair, nodding.

"Yeah." Dean confirms.

"Where Lori lives?" I ask, piecing things together.

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years." Dean suggests and I smile.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?" Sam asks us, confused.

"Check the church records." I tell him and he goes to get them. He comes back a while later and turns to the correct year.

"'St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged." He reads, sighing. "They melted it down. Made it into something else." He informs us. We head over to the church and get out, knowing that it's empty.

"Alright, we can't take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire." I tell them and Dean nods.

"I agree. So, Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in." Sam informs us.

Alright, take your pick." Dean prompts him.

"I'll take the house." Sam chooses and I nod.

"Ok." Sam begins walking towards Lori's house. "Hey." Dean calls out and Sam turns around. "Stay out of her underwear drawer." He tells him playfully, and I laugh nudging him as Sam walks away. Dean and I round up everything silver from the church and go down to the basement, throwing it in the furnace, and Sam comes down with a bag of silver objects from Lori's house.

"I got everything that even looked silver." He tells us.

"Better safe than sorry." Dean comments and we throw everything into the fire. We hear footsteps above us. "Move, move." He tells us and taking his gun, we go upstairs with Sam. Upstairs, we see that it's Lori sitting in a pew, crying. Dean lowers his gun, motioning for me to follow, and we go downstairs while Sam comforts Lori. Dean and I are throwing the rest of the stuff in the fire, when we hear things breaking and then hear Sam cry out, so we run upstairs, Dean with his gun raised, and see the Hook Man standing over Lori and Sam is bleeding.

"Sam, drop!" He yells and Sam crouches down as Dean shoots the Hook Man once, causing him to disappear into dust.

"I thought we got all the silver." Sam tells us, still sitting on the floor in front of Lori.

"So did we." Dean agrees and I sigh.

Then why is he still here?" Sam asks us.

"Well, maybe we missed something!" I snap and we look around for anything silver.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?" Sam asks her suddenly and I notice the silver cross.

"My father gave it to me." She replies.

"Where'd your dad get it?" Dean asks her.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school." She explains.

"Is it silver?!" I yell, done with wasting time.

"Yes!" She yells back and Sam rips the chain off her neck. I turn to see the Hook Man, now invisible, making a long scratch on the wall.

"Sam!" Dean yells as he throws Sam the rifle filled with rock salt and Sam tosses Dean the necklace. Dean and I run back downstairs and throw it in the furnace, watching it melt. We run back upstairs to make sure that Hook Man is gone and we walk over to Sam and Lori, giving them a knowing look. Outside the church, sheriffs are walking around, an ambulance parked out front where Lori and Sam are, and Dean and I are standing by the impala talking to the sheriff.

"And you saw him, too? The man with the hook?" He asks Dean and I, causing us both to nod.

"Yes, I told you, we all saw him. We fought him off and then he ran." Dean tells him again.

"And that's all?" The sheriff asks us, suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's all." Dean insists.

"Listen. You, your girlfriend and your brother-" The sheriff starts to tell us.

"Oh, don't worry, we're leaving town." I tell him, and we walk to the car, getting in. Dean is watching Lori and Sam in the side mirror and I roll my eyes.

"We could stay.: Dean offers, looking at me, and Sam shakes his head. I look through the back window to see Lori watching, sadly and I turn to see Dean shake his head, clearly disappointed before driving away to find another case, and hopefully soon, we'll find John.


End file.
